Read Online Fighting Chance by Paulette Oakes - Free Book Online Page B

each other, circling and
looking for an opening, another voice called out, “I would reconsider, if I
were you, Zandar. You have not seen speed such as hers before.”
    Mahoney spared the speaker a quick glance, but she
recognized him all the same thanks to the distrustful pale gray eyes. A wicked
chuckle bubbled up from her chest as she called out, “How’s the chest wound,
buddy?”
    A low growl from his corner failed to ruffle her nerves.
Zandar, watching her feet closely, announced, “Enough of this. Let us end this
quickly.”
    Zandar moved in, his huge arms swinging for Mahoney’s face,
but she bobbed and weaved effortlessly to avoid each hit. Catching his right
arm in a hook with one leg, she used the downward momentum to swing her other
foot around to crash into the side of his head. He hit the ground hard while
she danced backward, waiting for him to recover.
    Shaking his head to clear out the cobwebs, he stumbled to
his feet and roared a challenge. His rage made him careless as he barreled
toward the smaller human. Every time he swung, Mahoney was there, under his arm
to deliver a punishing blow to his stomach or a sharp jab to his neck. His
frustration continued to mount as she evaded his every move, dancing forward to
sting at him with kicks and punches, before ghosting away out of reach.
    She was barely breaking a sweat while Zandar wheezed like a
bellows. When she hooked her foot behind his to send him crashing to the floor
for the third time, she said, “Are you done playing around now? I’m getting
bored.”
    Icy brown eyes met hers and he snarled with injured pride.
He hauled himself to his feet again and staggered around her, looking for an
opening. He made to dive for her middle and Mahoney lifted her foot to deliver
a downward chop. When her foot was halfway down, he swung his torso under her
foot to come up standing on the other side. He caught her heel in one hand and
grinned evilly. Before he could revel in his victory however, she used his hand
as a fulcrum to jump up with the other foot and flip backward out of his reach.
He followed after her and she stepped into his body, grabbed his right arm with
both of hers, and used her forward momentum to bring his arm with her as she
swung around to his back. She rode his body down to the ground, twisting him
arm up higher, and landed astride him as he hit the floor. A sickening pop made
Jessica stifle a scream that was drowned out by the sound of Zander’s pained yell.
    Mahoney stood quickly and backed away, her body in full
fight mode. When it was clear he wouldn’t be getting back up, she glared at the
speechless warriors and demanded, “Who’s next?”
    The men looked at each other warily, none of them especially
eager to fight the woman. Finally, Mahoney rolled her eyes and pointed into the
crowd. “You and you. Let’s go.”
    Reluctantly, the two men stepped forward, shooting worried
looks at the commander. When he just raised his eyebrow expectantly, they
assumed a position in front of her several feet apart. After a respectful bow,
she arranged herself in a fighting stance with legs open and crouched and her
right elbow resting on her left arm and her hand in the form of a snake’s head.
    Mikael’s eyes lit up with anticipation. The two warriors
watched her warily as her hand weaved back and forth as if searching for a
target. While their eyes were distracted, Mahoney launched into an attack. Her
pointed jabs were lightning fast as she snuck under their swings to zip in and
land punishing blows to the chi point below one of their Adam’s apple while
swinging her foot to the side to catch the other in his stomach. They redoubled
their efforts to catch her while she whipped and struck just out of their
reach.
    After five more minutes of fruitless endeavors, one of the
men called out to her, “You wouldn’t be so lucky if you were up against our
blades.”
    Mahoney stopped and arched an eyebrow. Before she could
reply, however, Mikael