Free The Hunted (Guild of Assassins Book 1) by Shannan Albright Page B

time to angle his hips and keep his privates intact. As it was, he’d be sporting one hell of a bruise where her knee brutally dug into his hip.
    “You enjoy fighting dirty,” he said.
    Her lip curled up as she flicked him a look of pure loathing. “You are only a demon, beneath my respect. My job is to take you down anyway I can.”
    She blurred before his eyes, a whirling dervish in a dance of lethal grace, and her blade flashed around him too quick to defend against. His skin burned from the numerous cuts she inflicted on him. His clothing was in tatters, stained red by his blood as it ran freely down his body and dripped at his feet on the forest floor.
    He held little hope of besting her with speed. Only the knowledge of his ancestors could aid him now. He struggled to focus inward, and ignoring the burning pain from each strike of her blade, he reached for the center of his being and called the knowledge forth to aid him.
    Only the need to see Leigh safe kept him on his feet and fighting.
     
    ~*~
    Leigh crouched behind the boulder, stomach churning with worry. Taren’s voice carried on the wind, too low for her to understand what he could possibly be saying. Unfortunately, Beatrice’s voice came to her far too clear, telling her she was close to where Leigh hid. She nearly jumped out of her skin at the sudden clang of metal meeting metal.
    “Can you take a peek for me, Ola, and see if he is all right? I can’t stand here hiding, knowing he could be hurt.”
    Or worse, killed.
    The thought crept into her mind despite her best efforts, bringing with it a sharp ache in her chest. The thought of losing him was unacceptable. She needed to do something, anything to help him before her own imagination drove her crazy.
    I’ll take a quick look, but I’m positive he will be just fine.
    Ola disappeared from their hiding place. Lost in her dark, anxious thoughts, she was unprepared as hands gripped her hair savagely, sending a sharp sting over her skull. Her nails gouged deep into the fingers digging into her. Her reaction too slow to prevent being slammed against the rock with brutal force. How could she have been so stupid to relax her guard?
    Black spots flashed across her vision as pain blasted its way through her head, radiating out from her temple to her neck. She looked up at the wavering form of a woman dressed in the black uniform of the Aegis, blinking to put her in focus.
    “You are as pitiful as Beatrice said you were. I can’t believe Doreen could be your mother. You’re nothing like her.” Disgust dripped from the hunter’s words.
    Fury boiled through Leigh, filling her veins with liquid fire. Her vision hazed red with her rage, and she raised her hands, weaving an intricate pattern in the air as she spoke words she’d never uttered before in anger. “Green with the spark of life, here my call. Earth, which nurtures, bring forth your strength and bind that which seeks to do harm.”
    Her vision cleared, catching the dark haired woman’s wary gaze. Without warning, the ground bucked savagely beneath the hunter’s feet and, with an audible whoosh , tossed her hard onto her back.
    Thick vines erupted from the ground and wrapped around the hunter before she could fight them off, holding her immobile as Leigh struggled to her feet. The world tilted as she gingerly fingered the side of her head where a knot was forming.
    “You know what, bitch,” Leigh said. “I never wanted to be like my mother. Not if it meant I would be like you.”
    She welcomed the power of the earth, filling her with strength. Calm determination settled over her like a well-worn blanket. Her focus narrowed, her mind clearing as she gave her back to the struggling woman, and the last of her fear washed away.
    “Earth who heeds my call, protect so I do not fall. Hold tightly to the one you bind, and tear her asunder should I fail.”
    The woman struggled against the vines, panic clear in her eyes. “Hey, that didn’t rhyme.