The Lycanthru used Denue to set me up.
He smirked as two of his cronies strode up from either side of me. I recognized Slob and Freckles as they grinned in triumph. The one holding me had to be Muscles. Denue leaned into my face to gloat. “What you gonna do now, ‘Red Rider’?”
His friends laughed. I kicked hard against Denue’s chest with both heels, knocking him off his feet as he wheezed. My kick pushed me back against Muscles and we fell to the ground hard, though his bulk softened my blow. I elbowed his gut and he released me to roll away and rise to my feet. The fifth boy from Denue’s gang stood behind us with a toothy grin. They seemed to have forgotten how I beat them last time. Or they assumed they had me outnumbered.
I kicked Muscles’ jaw as he tried to stand. I needed my strongest attacker to stay down. He grunted and moaned like a wounded animal, rolling in the dirt as he clutched at his face. Tooth kept smiling and spread his feet in a fighting stance, as the two beside Denue did the same. Then they all drew hunting knives and held them out, preparing to lunge.
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“That’s right, wench,” Denue said from behind me. “This time, we brought better weapons than a club.”
“Clever,” I said. “Wish I’d thought of that.”
I raised my crossbow to Tooth’s startled eyes. He dropped the knife and raised his hands, backing away as I circled behind him. I was out of patience.
He joined Slob and Freckles, who still gripped their knives, unsure.
I cocked my head at them.
Both knives fell to the floor. I nodded toward the ground beside a horse stall. “Over there.”
They raised their hands in surrender as they backed toward it. Muscles crawled after them, still rubbing his jaw. Freckles scowled at me. “We’ll get you. You just wait,” he said.
I fired a bolt between them. Freckles squealed as it struck the wood of the stall behind him. “Sit down and keep quiet,” I said.
They dropped to the floor, hands still raised. I slung the crossbow over my shoulder and approached Denue.
He drew a knife from his rear pocket and lunged, the blade flashing in his fist. I kicked up at his wrist and pinned it against a wooden pillar. He whined in pain as the knife fell. I kept his hand there and backhanded him across the jaw. I punched him a second and third time to send him spinning to the dirt.
The other boys leaned forward, ready to stand. After I glared at them, they sat back on their 305
hands. I grabbed Denue by his tunic and tugged him to my face.
He squirmed, his eyes bulging. “Lemme go, you witch! You wear pants and fight like a man. What kinda girl are you?”
“One with little patience.” I shook him for emphasis. “Who told you to attack me? Was it Laurent?”
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “Figured it’d be easy to nab a stupid girl.”
“Capture? Not kill?”
He shook his head. “I ain’t no killer! Just needed money. He’s paying us plenty to bring you unharmed.”
“He wants me unharmed so he can harm me himself. You know what he is. You told me yourself.”
“That’s what he told me to say, to make you come with us. I don’t know nothing else.
Those are just stories to scare little kids!”
“They’re not stories and you know it. Even if Laurent was an ordinary man, why would he pay you to capture me? What do you think he’ll do with me? And how long do you think he’ll let you live, after you do what he asks? Another night?
Another
