Damsel[ed]: No Rescue Required

Extra - Damsel[ed]: Some Rescue Required

An excerpt from chapter seven of the second book in the series...

I'm suddenly cold. Syndicate is the bad guy of bad guys. Neutrals want money. Snare wants turf. But Syndicate? They want more, much more. And God knows what that "more" is. I don't know what they'd do to Gats or what they'd use him for. An agent? An unwilling villain? An exotic pet?

"Don't." It hurts to speak. I hold out my wrists. "You wanted me, didn't you? Just freaking kidnap me! Or kill me! Whatever!"

"No," Gats says, so quiet I almost don't hear him. I'm boiling up, so frustrated I want to find a pillow and scream my lungs into it. A villain picks up Gats and slings him over her shoulder. He struggles. I'm on my feet. He yowls and claws and shrieks until they have enough and a woman throws a nasty blow to his head. He shuts up. I run, or at least try, staggering, swaying, and biting back squeaks of pain. Everything hurts. I feel like I should be dead.

"Come on, Rose," says one villain, "just take her out of her misery."

"Why should I?" asks the woman holding the bat.

The other shrugs in reply. Gats' eyes meet mine for a split-second and my heart plunges in my chest. He looks so scared, his blue eyes big and bright and flashing. The villains throw him in the van's back and I try really, really hard to move, to give some sort of chase. I stagger and fall, stagger and fall. While I try to stand, the van spits exhaust and speeds off, kicking up loose bits of gravel in my face.

Gone. I watch them leave as I lie sprawled on the ground like a pathetic little garbage heap. I hardly process it. They have Gats. Gatsby. My best friend. I pound my fists into the street and scream until my voice is gone and my knuckles are skinned raw.

Everything we did, every battle we fought, was for nothing.

You can find the second book listed on my profile under the title "Damsel[ed]: Some Rescue Required." Happy reading, as always! :D