Jeff tackled Harper to the ground. She wasn’t fast enough to stop his onrush. Her head snapped hard against the wet turf, causing sparks to flash across her vision and pain to explode inside her skull.
Straddling her hips, he smacked her cheekbone sharply with a solid backhand. Twice.
Chaos rang loud in her ears as she realized her protective psi-powered field had dropped at the same time she hit the grass. A frenzy of heavy boot steps and loud voices filtered through the ringing, and she saw frantic blurs of movement out of the corner of her eye.
Another hard whack connected with the other side of her face, shocking her fuzzy focus back to the madman on top of her.
“Coward,” Jeff seethed, lowering his face just a breath away from hers, his cheeks fuming red. “You have no idea what justice is. You could have had everything.” His eyes turned wild. “But now you’ve chosen to lose it all.”
He swung his hand back again, now with a cruel blade clasped in his severe grip, ready to strike. Harper thrashed and managed to loosen Jeff’s hold on her.
As she struggled to free herself, a slight motion to her left caught her attention. A tall dark figure raced down from the hill where she’d been not too long ago. Rain lashed at the runner, but he sped on, boots kicking up splashes of standing rain and mud.
Rome. What in the world was he doing?
Gunfire filled the air. Followed closely by deafening yells and splashes. A fierce wave of black-clad figures rushed into the courtyard and clashed with camouflage.
Rome’s group of special ops attacked Jeff’s army, half of which were supersoldiers. Skirmishes swamped her vision. Bodies battled and dropped. It was war.
Jeff took advantage of the distraction and pinned her again, raising his knife above her chest.
He was going to kill her. And the moment Rome took one step inside the compound Jeff would kill him, too.
She lashed out, anything to get free and find Rome. A hot slash pierced her skin. Jeff’s knife had missed her neck, but found her shoulder.
The searing pain throbbed, giving her mind a shot of clarity. Rome needed her help.
Untangling her arm from under Jeff, she thrust the heel of her hand upward and heard a satisfying snap as it connected with his jaw. She took advantage of his surprise and shoved him off her. She scrambled away and raced into the fray, hunting for Rome.
She found him. In the middle of the courtyard, trading punches with two attackers. She focused on the two in her mind and raised her hand, aiming a burst of clear energy at them. The surge leveled them, heaving them through the air several yards away.
She was nearly blinded by the relief in Rome’s smile. Which quickly transformed into anger and then urgency.
“Duck!” he yelled. She crouched as he fired shots just beyond her, knocking down three of Jeff’s men.
She and Rome were now back to back, watching the oncoming wave of enemies heading their way from all sides.
“Harper,” Rome shouted over his shoulder, “I have to tell you-”
“Not now,” she barked back. She needed to focus.
“You need to know,” he persisted even as the attackers closed in. “You’re not-”
Gunshots filled her hearing. His voice was cut off. His body banged heavily against hers. She stumbled forward and twisted around in time to see bullets pummel Rome’s chest, driving him to the ground with a heavy thud. Unmoving.
Suddenly, rough hands grabbed her arms, hauling her through the lashing rain, away from Rome’s still body.
Pulled backward, she twisted, trying to break free to get back to him. More hands clamped around her legs, dragging her away from the fight. And Rome.
“Put her in!” Jeff ordered over the raucous sounds of combat. Harper craned her head to the side for a moment to meet his ruthless stare, realizing he meant to stick her in the wooden crate like a caged animal. She couldn’t let that happen, knowing it would neutralize her psi powers. She had to get to Rome.
“No!” She madly struggled against the iron grips on her limbs.
Harper thrashed wildly to no avail, kicking out and jerking her body every which way. The burning pain in her shoulder mingled with the ache in her soul from seeing Rome on the ground. She couldn’t seem to focus her thoughts to summon the energy she needed to escape.
She was airborne and then landed hard on the solid floor of the crate. On her back, she twisted to her knees and crawled to the opening, as the hatch began to shut.
She had a split second before the darkness overtook her. Enough time to see Rome’s lifeless body lying on the wet grass.
Harper shuddered and froze. Then her world went black. The crate hatch was shut. She was captured. Rome was dead.
It was over.