Read Online Taken by the Others by Jess Haines - Free Book Online Page A

skills of all previous users were retained by it and then shared with the next person to wear it. I knew I didn’t remember everything about fighting, nor had I retained all the skills I would have had with it on, but it still made me a far more formidable opponent than I used to be. Though I wasn’t as effective without it, I’d also started taking self-defense classes, and I’d kept enough knowledge from the belt to hold my ground against human attackers. For the most part. If they all came at me at once, I was screwed.
    The guy who’d shot into the air leveled the gun at me. “Stop fighting us! Put your hands up!”
    I told myself that if he’d meant to shoot me, he would’ve done it already. And that they weren’t out to hurt me too badly or the mage would’ve blown up my car instead of killing the engine. I still couldn’t ignore the gun, though. Especially when Mr. Muscles and another beefy guy from the second car came after me, hands out for another shot at grabbing my arms. They were going for subduing, not killing. I hoped.
    Rather than stick around to be grabbed, I ducked across the car, weaved past their outstretched arms, and ran down the street. My apartment was only a couple of blocks from where I’d stopped, but my keys were still in the ignition. Maybe I could scream for help at the manager’s door.
    One of the black cars roared to life and started after me while the men pounded the pavement behind me. I quickly veered onto the sidewalk, dodging pedestrians left and right. I was in shape, but I was more of a slow and steady marathon runner than a sprinter. At least one of the guys was catching up.
    Breathing hard, I glanced over my shoulder to see how close. He was way too close for comfort. It was the guy I’d decked with my purse, the right side of his face now twisted into a hateful mask of blood.
    I still had the purse with me. What worked once should work again. I stopped abruptly and pivoted, swinging my purse up to bash him on top of the head.
    This time he blocked, swinging an arm up to deflect the blow. Shit. I backpedaled as he barreled right into me, taking me down to the concrete in an incredibly painful tackle. My turn to have the air knocked out of me and little stars in my vision.
    Though I wasn’t in the right position for it, I tried shoving him off me. He was growling curses and highly uncomplimentary remarks as he grabbed at my hands, forcing them down to the pavement on either side of me. So I did the next best thing and rammed my knee up as hard as I could into his crotch.
    His eyes bugged out so much I could see the whites behind his sunglasses, which had somehow managed to stay on his face during the fight. Unfortunately, my tactic didn’t work as well as I’d hoped. He didn’t let up his grip on me, the other two guys ran up, and as some of the stars cleared from my peripheral vision, I could see the two black cars double-parked and idling beside where I was pinned to the pavement.
    Each of the suits grabbed an arm, hefting me to my feet as the guy with the bloodied face slowly levered himself up to stand. I kicked at kneecaps and bit at the hands on my shoulders and arms, but they had me pretty well pinned. It was hard to keep fighting after the first guy jabbed a harsh punch into my stomach, once again driving the air painfully out of my lungs. I prayed he hadn’t hit me hard enough to crack any ribs.
    “You’re under arrest for attempted murder,” the bloody-faced guy said loudly in a wheezy, slightly higher-pitched voice than before. I imagine that was due to my kneeing him right in the ‘nads. Lots of people were staring at us, watching open-mouthed from apartment windows, out of their cars as they passed by, or peeking from storefronts. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you.”
    Gasping back some air, I spat at him. “You lying sack of shit! Somebody call the police, these aren’t cops!” I cried out