Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt: Hunter x OC

Attack

Hunter slipped silently through the door of Lyra's cottage, knife in one hand to brace his blaster in the other as he scanned the hallway, sharp eyes moving constantly. He stepped slowly, avoiding the creaky spots of the wooden floor that he didn't realize he'd memorized. As he peeked around the corner to the main room, he froze, dumbstruck.

Lyra was tied to a chair in the middle of her own living room, tears on her cheeks illuminated by the glow of her fireplace, and Luciana loomed above her with a menacing glare.

"Where is it?" she hissed, fist clenched at her side. As she turned, a rush of adrenaline pumped through Hunter's veins as he spotted a blaster in her other hand.

"I told you I don't have it," Lyra whimpered.

"First you said the evidence was in the safe. Then there was no safe. Now you're saying someone else has it. You think I don't know who? You're stalling, and I'm sick of it!"

Lyra remained silent, eyes tightly shut in hopeless despair.

"Hunter's not coming to save you," Luciana taunted with smug satisfaction. Her beautiful features were contorted into rage, her typically bright smile twisted in a sinister grin. "He's going to be busy for quite a while. You're going to talk one way or the other, so stop wasting time. If you don't have the evidence, where is your daughter?"

Pain and fear emanated from Lyra's helpless form.

"Where is your daughter?" Luciana demanded. "I know you went to find her on Keytoll. Then you two both 'died', or so you led them to believe, until you showed up here. So where is she?"

A minute shake of the head was the only response.

Luciana slapped her across the face.

"Where's Breslin?!" she screamed, poking the blaster closer. Lyra slowly raised her head, finally meeting Luciana's blazing eyes with her own, and took a shuddering breath. A sudden stillness settled over her, and her voice was low as she spoke with clarity and conviction.

"I'll never tell you."

"Agh!" Luciana yelled in frustration, lowering the blaster to her side and clawing at the ropes to free Lyra from the chair before yanking her to her feet with a sharp tug on her bicep. "Get up! You're going to take me to her or I'm going to start shooting you to pieces little by little!" She pushed her forward sharply toward the hallway where Hunter was watching, tense and ready. As he leaned out slightly, hoping to de-escalate the situation, both women spotten him with a gasp.

"Oh, babe, you're supposed to be enjoying your massage," Luciana taunted, her voice now sickly sweet.

"Give me the blaster," he said, his own fixed on her above his knife.

"Afraid I can't do that, sweetheart." She let out a disconcertingly sinister giggle, then jerked Lyra back toward her, looping an arm around her shoulders to brace her against her chest. She lifted the blaster to Lyra's temple, pressing it into the skin beside her tightly-clenched eyes. "Your pathetic girlfriend here has something for me."

"We don't need to do it this way," Hunter said smoothly. He was the perfect voice of reason, completely unfazed with effortless stability, but his sharp eyes were on her like a hawk. "Let her go and we'll sort it out."

"You know I don't like being told what to do," Luciana taunted, squeezing Lyra more tightly and shoving her a step forward. "Now get out of the way or I'll make you."

"Hey," Hunter said softly, not looking away from Luciana. The warmth in his tone coaxed Lyra to open her eyes, finding his stoic face immediately. "I know you can make me. You threw me over your shoulder at the farmer's market," he said quietly, eyes darting for a split second to Lyra before returning to the threat. "When we were promoting the self defense workshop where we taught how to get out of holds."