Free The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) by Stacey Marie Brown Page A

can talk.”
    “What?” I screeched, pushing against my captor. “No.
Don’t do this.”
    Ryker ignored me, his gaze fixed on Arlo. “We’ve got
a deal?”
    “Sorry, I don’t trust that if I release her you’ll be
a good boy.” Arlo shook his head.
    “You have my word.” Ryker took a step to us. “Let her
go, and you and I can come to an arrangement about the stone.”
    “Ryker!” I bellowed. Screw this. I was not going to
let him sacrifice the stone for me. My head went forward, giving it
more momentum as it slammed back into Arlo’s face at the same time
my elbow went into his gut.
    A scream echoed behind me, but as he stumbled back,
falling, his blade slipped and sliced into the side of my neck.
Hot, consuming pain tore out of my mouth, dropping me to my knees.
Then everything went insane.
    “Zoey!” I heard my name being called, my gaze
catching Ryker bounding toward me at the same time Arlo’s men
sprang for him.
    Out of nowhere, a man dressed in all black jumped
into the throng of fae, his sword swinging. It took me a moment to
realize he was fighting against Arlo’s men. Someone was helping us?
It had to be a hallucination.
    My vision blurred. Ryker suddenly stood in front of
me, holding my face, his mouth moving. I heard nothing. A man
crashed into him, together they slid across the gravel into the
river.
    I curled over my knees, wanting to sleep. Get up,
Zoey. You fight till the end. You don’t quit. But I was tired.
And numb. I no longer felt pain. Only heat. So much heat I wanted
to tear the fire right out of me. The glow spread up my spine and
over to my neck. Get up now! Fight! I lifted my head, my
vision still dim, but I noticed the blood from my wound was already
congealing.
    Ryker was out of the water, his axe slicing across
one of our attackers. The man in black was near him, fighting
another group of men with efficiency and a kind of beauty.
Actually, he looked bored, parrying and lunging with several men at
once. My first thought when I saw him was he looked like a pirate.
He had shoulder-length dark hair that dangled in messy strands down
to his shoulders and a thick black beard covering his face. Black
leather pants, a black shirt, and a long velvet and leather coat
completed his look.
    He was extremely striking. His face was angular with
a long nose, and his dark almond-shaped eyes suggested he had Asian
ancestry somewhere. Compared to Ryker he was small, but he still
was probably at least six feet. He was thin but defined. He and
Ryker made a dramatic pair fighting side by side. The huge, blond,
tattooed Viking next to the willowy, dark swashbuckler.
    It was only an instant my thoughts wandered, but it
was enough. Arms came from behind, scooping me off the ground. A
hand covered my mouth. “Shut up, you stupid bitch,” Arlo snarled in
my ear. From the corner of my eye I saw blood leaking from his
broken nose. “You broke my nose... now I will break your neck.
Seems fair.”
    Wrath detonated in me, locking my jaw down on his
fingers.
    Arlo let out a wail, trying to shake free of my
mouth. I rolled my jaw, and my teeth sawed even deeper into this
skin. The tang of blood glided across my taste buds. The street
fighter in me took over. Exhilaration replaced the burning in my
lungs.
    He dropped me, and without hesitation, I swung
around, reaching for my knife. My teeth bared, coated in his blood.
I lowered myself in defense. He probably had never been taken on by
a human, let alone a five-foot-five female. But I was no ordinary
girl, even before I met Ryker and acquired his magic.
    I was a professional street fighter. One who got a
crazy high from smashing her fist into someone’s tender body parts.
Fighting had been my release before I gave it up for my life at
DMG. Now that the feelings had been released again, it came back in
frightening abundance.
    “How adorable are you?” Arlo shook out his hand,
hatred drilling deep in his eyes. “Human wants to play a fae game?
Come on,