The Goblin Warrior (Beneath Sands Book 2) by Emma Hamm (100 books to read txt) 📕

hit the same and he fell face forward to drag a claw against the Doctor’s foot. But the more stunning image was that of the woman behind the goblin.

He had always thought that the human woman Jane was a rather remarkable specimen. Her build was not that of a lady but of a man. She was strong and made for work rather than for pleasure. Yet there was still something about her that remained regal.

A warrior through and through, she had managed to impress him.

She stood behind the beast like a goddess of old. The sun set behind her and streaked the sky with bright red strokes of blush against the canvas of the sky. He was so sure of himself that he didn’t consider the danger he was likely in.

She was a woman, and a captive at that. Her entire life was now in his palm.

Because she stood behind the creature meant nothing. He palmed the needle that he had kept in his pocket for this exact moment. He had three little pieces of satisfaction, as he tended to call the drug. It was his weapon of choice.

When injected into a body it had a similar effect to that which had stunned the others. The body would be immobile but the mind would remain sharp. Eventually, control over one’s limbs would return with immense pain. The recovery from the drug in the needle was slow, uncomfortable, and punishing.

The Doctor considered it, in a word, perfect.

Yet the fact he did not consider was that Jane did not like him. She did not like being a prisoner and she did not like the way he ruled this place. She was not a City woman who was under his thumb or worried for the safety of her family.

She had been born in the sands and the desert. She had existed among sandcats and wild animals that screamed at the twin moons. She had been taken from her family and felt the loss of them already. Her life had been changed as she had been forced to exist underground with monsters that had always haunted her dreams.

She was not a soft woman. And she was not a woman to threaten.

As Ruric fell before her, Jane felt as though her entire life flashed in a moment before her eyes. She knew how much she loved him. Her heart clenched in pain at the thought that perhaps he was dead.

The knowledge that Ruric may be forever out of her reach cause an answering anger that pushed her forwards to continue. Though it may not have been Ruric’s plan for Jane herself to attack the Doctor, he had known she would do what she must.

Jane hardly had control over her own body. In the moments that followed Ruric’s fall, she felt as though she watched herself outside her own body.

Her hand stretched forward in such a slow motion that she was certain the Doctor would move away. But in fact, she moved so quickly that he didn’t have time to even think.

Her fingers closed around his wrist and turned his hand forcibly towards his own chest. Though he fought her, Jane was not a small woman. She used her own strength, weight, and anger to force him onto a knee before her.

He didn’t have time to make a sound as she jabbed the needle between his ribs.

Her thumb pressed down upon the end and she smiled back at him in satisfaction as his eyes bugged out of his skull. He was already slowly losing control over his limbs when she found the second needle.

The line of its tube pressed stark against the smooth edges of his pants. Enraged and fighting off the burgeoning grief of loss, Jane jagged the second needle into him as well. The third soon followed until she could no longer find any more of the dreaded drug to force into his system.

The Doctor was as aware as one could imagine through all of this. The darkness at the edges of his vision were not a good sign. He knew very well what would happen should a person overdose on his special brand of satisfaction.

He managed a small gurgle before his eyes rolled back in his head for a final time.

Though it felt like a lifetime to Jane, this all managed to happen within the span of thirty seconds.

She slumped backwards and her bottom hit the sand hard. She scuttled as far away from the Doctor’s body which had started to spasm. Her chest rose and fell in sharp panicked breaths as she forced herself to watch the man die.

This was her doing. He was a bad man and he had meant to hurt them.

But it was the first life she had ever taken. Jane knew in that moment it would also be her last.

A hand settled on her shoulder. The fingers were long and the nails were neatly trimmed.

“Jane.” Catherine’s voice was soft and quiet as she leaned down to hold the other woman in her arms. “It’s over. It’s over Jane.”

“The rest will come.” She didn’t recognize her own voice. It was hoarse and angry.

“He’s gone. They will go home to their families. They will not avenge him.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do.” Catherine responded. “I do know that because I am one of them.”

Jane’s wild eyes looked over Catherine’s shoulders and she was bewildered to see that it was true. The men that had been shooting them with tranquilizers had lowered their guns. They were staring at the scene as though they too could not believe what had just transpired.

“Go on with you.” It was the other man who had spoken, the one who had led Ruric out of his confinement with Shusar. “We’re leaving. Tell the others that if they want to come they can.”

One of the soldiers removed his helmet. Jane was shocked to see the bright red locks that covered the man’s head in curls.

“It isn’t safe out there. Where will you go?”

“Where ever they do.” Frank said.