Riley’s face showed surprise, then pure hatred. “No one was talking to you, freak,” he spat.
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Leave her alone. Unless you want everyone to see you get knocked out by a girl.”
My tone was casual, but my blood was boiling. Nobody touched Nelly. Nobody. Disturbing thoughts raced through my head, every one of them intriguing. Riley definitely was bigger and stronger than me, but I was pretty confident I could hurt him. That thought alone erased any possibilities of fear. I guess my mother’s training was good for something. I was no stranger to battle. I was conditioned for it. And mostly, I just wasn’t concerned with the consequences.
“Watch it,” Riley said, through gritted teeth, “unless you want to end up with two black eyes.”
I shrugged. “You’re welcome to try.”
Riley lunged for me. I’d been expecting this. I’d learned long ago to anticipate attacks, and he had nowhere near the amount of combat skill my mother had. My respect for her grew a little in that moment.
I managed to side-step his attack and push Nelly out of the way in the process. This was not something he had been expecting, and he stumbled a little before regaining his footing. As he spun around to face me, the anger that had been on his face before had turned into rage. I flashed him a toothy grin, egging him on.
This time he stepped forward and swung his fist out toward my face. Again, I had been expecting it. To me, the fact that he would hit a girl justified my next actions. A hazy sort of anger came over me. It was so intense that I felt it thrum in my veins, like it was vibrating under my skin.
I made my decision. I wanted very much to end this circus show he was putting on. I moved so fast I don’t think he ever saw it coming. I slammed my fist so hard into his face he lifted off his feet and fell back on his butt. His head hit the pavement with a sickening thud, and I stood frozen to my spot. I knew I could fight, but the strength it must have taken to knock someone down twice my size impressed even me.
I felt myself move forward, and then I was standing over Riley. My mind snapped back to the blackbird. His nose sat at a funny angle and deep crimson flowed out of it. He was unconscious. My left eye twitched. I felt one side of my mouth pull up into a crooked smile and just barely managed to stop it before it turned full-fledged.
Then Nelly was tugging on my arm, her voice panicked. “Alexa, we have to go. Now.”
I heard myself say, “Run, Nell. We have to run.”
We did.
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Also by H. D. Gordon
The Alexa Montgomery Series
Blood Warrior
Half Black Soul
The Rise
Redemption
Heiress of Magic Trilogy
Thief of Magic
Throne of Magic
The Aria Fae Series
The Halfling
The Masked Maiden
The Blue Beast
The Haunted Hero
The Wolf Wars Series
Moon Burned
Moon Broken
Moon Battle
The Blood Pack Trilogy
Moon of Fire
Moon of Shadows
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