Page 13 (1/2)

Had they wanted someone with the same physical characteristics as their friend A a Hunter to house one of their disgusting dea herThe twobackward into the wal s, causing dust and plaster to waft through the air, then reconnecting and tossing each other into furniture They were a blur ofover the only snack in the jungle Wood chips were scattered across the floor, so in little pools of blood

Blood, a river between her ain she had to shake her head, dislodging the odda?"

In the next instant, Micah’s thoughts hit her Must kilMust safeguard

The words were sluggish, lower in volume than the ones that had co His wounds were opening, seeping, dripping al over the rooed tone, "and she’s h her head Not yours Never yours

Mine to safeguard

Could Defeat hear hi out of the bedroo for his life There had been barbwire in Micah’s tone, the tips laced with poison

But then, Micah’s thoughts switched direction I have to stop this Why aain, those thoughts switched direction Must kilMust safeguard

Micah snarled low in his throat, the sound ruh her mind as he punted Defeat into the already crushed vanity More wood chips scattered Red sparked in Defeat’s eyes, a gnarledover his features

He was turning, she thought with dread Frorowled now, and there was another voice fused to his One that was guttural, raw

Deterer would he pul his punches or deflect Micah’s Noould fight to win

He closed the distance and threw his meaty clubs around, a jackhammer of lethal purpose Not once did heon his feet, his eyes beginning to swel shut as his head whipped left then right, alternating as Defeat switched fists

The fact that Micah had lasted this long was astonishing, proof of his own deterer He couldn’t Not at the rate Defeat was delivering blows, and not with the already ravaged condition of his body