Jo stood, blinking her eyes and shaking her head, a bit bemused. The speed the man had moved at was just too quick. It was like watching a movie with several bits cut out; one minute he was on the ground, and then he was up, and then he'd crossed the several feet he'd tossed her attacker and caught him up. Obviously, she'd slammed her head into the wall harder than she'd realized, Jo thought, but continued forward, raising her boulder when she saw the dark-haired man had turned the blond so that his back was to her. She grasped the boulder in both hands, lifted it over her head, and brought it down on the blond with all her might. Too much might maybe, Jo thought worriedly as she heard the cracking sound it produced. There was one bad moment where she feared she might have done some serious damage, maybe even a killing blow, but then realized that wasn't the case at all. All she'd done was get the blond's attention… and piss him off, she realized as he suddenly turned his head to growl at her like a dog, baring fangs not unlike a dog's as well.
Jo's eyes widened incredulously at the sight and then shifted to his golden eyes glowing with fury. She took a nervous step back, but before he made a move, the dark-haired man punched him. At least she thought he punched him. She saw her savior's arm and shoulder shift and heard the thud. Whatever he'd done was enough to distract the blond from her. He turned back to the man who'd hit him and started to strike out at the dark-haired man in retaliation, but before he could finish the action, the dark-haired man struck again. This time, a small gurgle of sound slid from the blond's lips, and he began to crumple to the ground.
CHAPTER 2
"Are you all right?" Nicholas stepped over the rogue lying on the ground, moving toward the female standing just a few feet away. Her expression was shocked, her face pale, and he could smell blood in the air. Frowning with concern, he caught the woman by the shoulders and turned her away to examine the back of her head, silently cursing himself for not moving quickly enough to prevent her getting injured. He'd just arrived at the edge of the woods closest to the house when he'd spotted Ernie charging across the clearing toward the building. He hadn't spotted the woman the rogue was headed for until the man was nearly on her.
He should have shot him then, Nicholas supposed. It would have saved the woman one hell of a head banging, but he'd been worried the noise would bring Mortimer and the others down on him. He'd rather take care of the rogue and slip away than straight-out sacrifice himself, but Nicholas would if it became necessary. It wasn't like he had much to look forward to now anyway, but flat-out suicide wasn't in his nature, so he'd kept his gun in its holster and gone for brute strength instead, dragging the man off her and battling him hand to hand.
Unfortunately, Ernie was a wiry little bastard and he fought dirty. On top of that, Nicholas had been a tad distracted trying to see if the woman was all right. When she'd taken it upon herself to help him out by slamming a boulder over Ernie's head, Nicholas had decided it was time to stop playing. It had been obvious the woman wasn't smart enough to go for help, but would instead stick around and make herself a target should Ernie have gotten in a lucky shot and incapacitated Nicholas. So he'd resorted to his blade, stabbing the man in the chest but missing his heart the first time. He'd then stabbed him again, piercing the heart with the second blow. At least he hoped he had. Otherwise the guy would heal in a few minutes and be up causing problems again.
The thought made him release the woman to turn back to Ernie, but a gasp made Nicholas glance back in time to see that he'd released the woman so abruptly, she'd lost her balance and was even now tumbling to the ground. Nicholas reached out quickly, grabbing her up before she hit the dirt. He set her back on her feet, a frown plucking at his lips.
"Are you okay?" he asked, holding her to be sure she was steady on her feet.
"Yes," she breathed. "Thank you."
Nicholas released her more carefully this time, and then glanced to Ernie.
"Is he dead?"
The question from the woman brought his gaze back around to find her leaning to peer around his bulk at the man on the ground.
"No, he's just incapacitated for now," Nicholas said grimly.
"You must have hit him pretty hard to knock him out," she muttered, starting around him toward the body. "I've never seen anyone knocked out from a punch to the chest and I've seen a lot of bar fights."
Nicholas caught her arm to keep her from going near Ernie and raised an eyebrow in question when she glanced his way. "Have you now?"
"Hazard of the job," she explained, and then added, "I manage a bar by the university. Fights are a regular occurrence. Not in the bar itself," she added quickly. "We have bouncers to prevent that, but they start up outside sometimes."