Change of Heart by S.E. Edwards Page A

fight continue. If I wait for Rich to win… then I’ll be putting myself back in his arms.
    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me . I do not want to rely on Rich for anything else. Ever again.
    That seals my decision. Taking a deep breath, I stand and run forward…
    “Penny!” It’s Rich. “No!”
    I spin around. Horror fills me at what I see.
    Victor is staring at me with rage in his eyes. He’s bloodied and bruised, while Rich is none the worse for wear. But Victor is about twenty feet closer to me than Rich is.
    With a vicious snarl, Victor launches himself at me. Horrified, I turn and run for the doors. I reach them, and press down on the handle. They don’t budge.
    Oh, shit!!!
    I turn around to see the hulking beast of a man lumbering toward me. A sharp beam of light reflects from his cruel blade. I hesitate too long in the corridor, and suddenly I’m trapped. Victor’s massive shape fills my only escape route. He stops, his eyes dark and greedy. He looks like something out of a horror movie. Blood mattes his hair and continues running down his neck. His gaping mouth is red and snarling like an inferno. I have nowhere to go. I—
    All of a sudden, Victor crashes to the floor. The knife slides out of his grip and comes to rest at my feet. Bewildered, I look up. Rich has tackled Victor and wrestled him to the ground. They grapple with each other, Victor snarling and trying to flip over, Rich desperately pinning his arms to the ground. The heavier man clearly has the advantage on the floor. Rich might be taller, his arms might be longer, but he doesn’t have Victor’s raw strength. Not even close.
    All thought of escape has abandoned me at this point. I know that if I don’t help Rich, he’ll lose. And then Victor will have me to himself. Tam will come back. They’ll tie me up again. Rape me. Maybe worse.
    Those possibilities run through my head in less time than it takes to blink. Acting on pure instinct, I grab the knife and rush forward. Rich is still on top, but Victor has managed to turn himself over. Rich is fighting off Victor’s arms with all his might, but he’s at a clear disadvantage. I see my chance. Sliding to my knees, I stop just short of the struggle and press the sharp edge of the blade against Victor’s neck.
    The man freezes.
    “One wrong move, you asshole,” I say, surprised at the venom in my voice, “and I slit your throat.” I don’t know if I’m actually capable of doing that. Victor doesn’t know, either. I look up and meet Rich’s eyes. They’re wide with surprise. I nod.
    He reaches over and takes the knife from me. Victor’s arms are sprawled wide on the floor. Even he knows a losing situation when faced with one.
    I rise, and step back carefully. Rich looks at me, all of his surprise gone. “We’re going to have to tie him down,” he says. “Check behind the bar. Maybe there are more of those plastic things they used on you.” I’m surprised at the steadiness of his voice. My whole body is shaking—and I hadn’t even been in the fight.
    I nod and run to the bar. Halfway there, I hear Rich grunt. I turn back. “What is it?”
    To my surprise, I see Rich take the blade away from Victor’s throat. “He’s out cold,” he explains, picking himself up. “The blood loss must have finally got to him.”
    I hesitate. “Are you sure?”
    “The bastard must have lost four pints of blood, maybe more.” Rich prods at Victor’s shoulder with his foot. “Anybody else would have passed out long ago. The man doesn’t know when to quit. I’ll give him that.”
    “Where did you learn to fight like that?” I ask. “The whole time, you were so calm—Oh God, Rich, your leg!”
    “What?” He looks at where I’m pointing, and gives a sour grunt. “Oh, that? That’s nothing. A little knick I got from the fight.”
    It definitely isn’t “nothing,” and it’s definitely more than “a little knick.” There’s a dark stain on the side of