Excerpt from Sin and Sacrifice (FREE on Smashwords for Kindle for a limited time!-
http://bit.ly/ky9SUe):
The entire situation seemed to take on an underwater quality for Evelyn, the noises of the night oddly distorted, the image of her dying sister flashing like still shots on a macabre slide show. Panting, she pressed a palm over her forehead. She couldn't think. Violence had always been her ultimate weakness. Face to face with it, she tended to freeze and her mind went blank. The irony was that she was a better shot with a gun than any of her sisters, able to consecutively hit her mark on a non-live target with eerie accuracy. Put into a real world situation, she couldn't hit the broad side of an elephant with a shotgun from twenty paces.
Alex understood her distress and pushed her the opposite direction of the gruesome scene.
"Go call for help," Alex ordered, before rushing in to try and help Minna and Genevieve remove the sword from Galiana's chest.
The detailed hilt swam through Evelyn's vision while she tried to make her feet move. She knew that hilt. Had seen it before. Thick and heavy, with ornate carvings in gold on the edges. A Templar's sword.
Could it be anything else?
Behind her, the door to the gray van opened with a bang. The sound ricocheted through the parking lot. Evelyn whipped a startled look behind her in time to see five men pour out from inside.
Another barreled around the end of the dumpster, running full tilt. Steel glimmered under the moonlight from the sword he carried in his hand.
Evelyn screamed and dropped her purse, leaving her hands free to grapple with the hulking man in black who reached her first. Teeth and fists clenched, she swallowed down the bile that rose in the back of her throat and battered him with impotent blows against the head and chest. He felt like a brick wall.
Immovable. Indestructible. Just as Templar Knights were supposed to be.
Genevieve confronted two of the attackers while another two darted around them for Alexandra and Minna. A sickening crack split the night when Genevieve kicked the side of one man's knee, forcing him to the ground with a howl of pain. The other attacker drew a sword with a hiss of steel and pointed the tip right at Genevieve's neck, effectively stopping her assault in its tracks.
It was the last thing Evelyn saw before something dark got yanked over her head, blinding her. She fought harder and sucked in another breath to scream. The chop of someone's hand against her throat stopped it cold. She choked and gagged, tears streaming from her eyes at the pain.
"Keep your mouth closed, or I'll close it for you. Permanently," a voice ground out near her ear.
He sounded vicious and cold as death.
Kicking wildly, she flailed, weakened by the vicious strike. Through the thick material of the hood, she heard Minna and Alex fighting for their lives. The men had the advantage in numbers and weapons.
Templars and their battle prowess with swords was legendary.
Hustled forward, she banged her knee against the metal of the van when the man tried to shoved her in. Hands wrenched behind her back, it was her chin that took the brunt of the fall. Impatient, he bodily lifted and tossed her inside, swarming in over her to secure her hands with plastic wrist cuffs.
Gasping and wheezing, feeling like her windpipe had been crushed, she struggled and tried to kick him. He felt like a giant anvil, pressing her down.
"Go, get out of here," the man said to the driver. The van door cracked closed, shutting out any sounds of a struggle. The vehicle lurched into motion, tearing through the parking lot and out into the streets.
Her cheek banged against the hard floor and she whimpered past the excruciating fire in her throat.
She wondered if she and her sisters would share Galiana's fate. After years of evasion, their nightmare had finally caught up to them again. Evelyn was surprised the Templars hadn't tried to kill her already. Of course they wouldn't though. Not until they had a chance to interrogate her.
Evelyn knew what they wanted. Besides her death, she knew what they sought.
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Enjoy!
Danielle
