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

girl. This shouldn’t take long.”
    I was used to men underestimating me. At first it
pissed me off, now I only smiled and let them believe it. Like a
man who thought I was an easy target, Arlo lunged for me. Quick to
pick up on people’s strengths and weaknesses, I skirted out of his
way. My knife nicked at the side of his torso, causing him to
grunt. He charged me again, and I twisted around, punching him in
the temple. A roar broke from his mouth, and fire lit his eyes.
Before he’d gone easy with me, thinking he could take me out with
little work on his part. Now he was going to put effort into
it.
    Bring it, I thought as the buzz of adrenaline
spiked a rush of blood through my veins.
    He swung around, his fist heading for my stomach. He
moved with the uncanny speed of most fae, and his hand made
contact, slamming into my intestines. I fell back, rolling into a
backward somersault.
    There was pain. Definitely. But my anger always
pushed it to the side, reducing it to a secondary feeling as I went
into the zone.
    He jumped down for me, and I rolled to the side,
springing back to my feet.
    “I’m impressed. Little human can fight,” Arlo
grunted.
    “And like a girl .” I smiled tartly.
    He dove for my legs, and I kicked up, my knee
connecting with his mouth and nose. He screamed and fell to the
ground, hitting his already broken nose. Blood trickled from his
mouth as he spit out a tooth. I jumped on his chest, my knife
primed back. “How embarrassing to get your ass kicked by a human
girl,” I seethed. My hand twitched with the need to drive the blade
into his chest. Instead, I dragged it delicately across his face,
crossing over his previous scar, playing with him. “X marks the
spot.”
    Before I could drive my blade into the middle of the
X, I was lifted off him and pulled back. “Zoey, stop.”
    “Let me go,” I growled, straining against Ryker. He
wrapped his arms around me as he stepped on Arlo’s neck to keep him
from moving.
    “Calm down,” he mumbled in my ear. “Breathe.” He set
me down and turned me to face him, his foot pressing harder on
Arlo’s throat. Once again the moment my eyes met his, it was like
stepping into a warm bath. Everything dropped away; my muscles
relaxed. The white pools ringed with navy were my anchors. His eyes
brought me back from the brink.
    He cupped my face, keeping his gaze on me. My legs
stayed put, but my upper body sagged in his hands. “I think he’s
been humiliated enough.” Ryker’s lip curved in a smile when he
glanced down at Arlo, who was struggling to breathe.
    “Hey,” I huffed.
    Ryker rolled his eyes. “Sorry, but you are a tiny
human girl who kicked his ass. You think his men will ever let him
forget it? If they can even stomach being minions to this piece of
shit.” Ryker stepped off him and kicked his side. Arlo struggled to
get back on his feet, coughing up blood as he sucked in gulps of
air.
    When he finally rose, Ryker stepped around me,
putting himself between Arlo and me.
    “You’re dead, Wanderer. So is your little pet human
there.”
    One of Ryker’s eyebrows flicked up. “Piss off, Arlo,
and run fast. I might decide to let her finish the job. It will
only take her a moment.”
    Arlo’s bloody face contorted with rage.
    “Now,” Ryker commanded.
    Arlo snarled but took a step back. Then another. A
few of his surviving men got back on their feet, and with heads
bowed, they hightailed it away from us, disappearing into the
darkness.

 
     
SEVEN
     

     
    I let out a staggered breath.
    “Damn. Wasn’t expecting to see that.” The pirate man
turned to me, sheathing his sword. “Think I might be scared of you
too.”
    Ryker frowned and twisted me to him. “You all right?”
He touched my neck. My hand automatically went to the same area.
The torn skin was now molding itself together, the blood drying in
clumps, crusting around the wound. Maybe it hadn’t been as deep as
I thought, and like a paper cut, it felt worse than it