Chapter 24

Sam glared at her uncle, her mind racing. He was not going to get away with this. The assistant’s name? Was it Jim? No, that was the book character. But it was similar. Then it hit her, Tim. Lord Robert didn’t know about Timothy. Sam remembered the shy young man often coming to their house. She thought it was strange that a grown man couldn’t even say hello to a ten-year-old girl. It didn’t matter. He was interesting and the young Sam had rarely talked to other men. At the time, she imagined marrying him and continuing her father’s work together. If her uncle didn’t know whatever the chemical formula was, Timothy might have it. Her father must have kept that information a secret from Robert.

“You don’t know how father did it, do you? You called me a freak. Said he experimented on me, gave me my strength,” Sam mocked her uncle. “That’s the real reason you haven’t killed me, isn’t it?”

“Believe what you will,” Lord Robert scoffed. “I’m surprised, though. How dare you think I was capable of killing my niece? Maybe at one time, when you were young to spare you the pain of their loss. I despaired what to do with you, though. Your parents were both geniuses, but if I couldn’t use you and marry you off, I was convinced you were destined for spinsterhood.”

This was all too much. Sam closed her eyes and clenched her fingers. She’d given up her friends to come back here. Now she lost her powers, her liberty, and he continued to insult her. There was no way he was going to get away with this. Robert was responsible for the death of her parents, changing her life, and not for the better. She needed to pay him back.

She braced her foot and jerked her left arm forward. The man holding it flew with her, crashing into the floor. The metal gears making up his arms and legs scattered before him as he bounced and slid to a halt.

“Get her, fools!” Albert pointed.

Sam saw Lord Robert step back and let Albert direct the workers to hold her. She used her free hand to punch the second man in the face, shattering his nose. He fell back, letting go of her arm. Grabbing him, she tossed him on top of the first one. They crashed together and rolled over to the side.

“Forget this,” Sam remarked and jumped away from the men. “You surprised me the last time.” She wasn’t going to get captured, not again.

Sam landed several feet away and stumbled, catching herself on the wall. She opened and closed her fists, punching the air, testing the feeling of her muscles.

Those two were just heavy. I’ve only got about half my strength here, but I have it. Another man in blue overalls smashed her jaw with his fist and she staggered back, spitting blood. A second man came at her from the left and punched her low in the stomach, sending another crack, louder than the first one, through the air. She grunted and grabbed her side. A rib was cracked, at the least.

“I’ve had worse from Akira,” Sam grunted. Countering with a shove, she knocked the second man back into the first, fear lending her extra strength. They all had the same gear-like exoskeletons on their arms and legs for lifting the crates. It made them strong, but awkward.

“Crap!” Sam rubbed her face, spit out some more blood, and held her side. “You knocked a tooth loose,” her voice spiked. Over in Relancia, everything seemed dream-like, unreal. It had been more dangerous, but exciting. With the potions to heal your wounds, it was the adventure she’d always wanted. Here, it was too real. Here, she felt like she could die.

A new man came rushing in, aiming a metallic fist towards her face. She raised her arms to protect it and dropped to a squat stance. When she was facing Akira, he liked to use the sword to smack her face and make her drop her guard. She developed this move to protect herself against his harassment and attack from below. She got him once until he learned how to block her.

The blue coverall man closed in again. She slid inside his arms and punched his temple, dropping him to the ground. They moved like they were in molasses. She had no trouble getting ahead of them. However, where did Robert get so many of them? The second man snatched Sam from behind, lifting her off the ground. She reached up and crushed the gears on his carapace, rendering it useless. Forcing her legs into his gut, she kicked off of him and rolled closer to one of the crates. The second man crashed back into the crate, spilling gems everywhere.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Sam jumped to her feet and saw another dozen men surrounding her. Lord Robert was missing. That bastard was the one she wanted. He needed to pay for destroying her childhood. Her anger rose.

“Where’s Robert? Bring me that son of a bitch. Now! I want him here or I’m going to kill you all!” Sam faced the men. They reminded her of the soldiers in Akira’s camp, ready for a fight, only less dangerous. Those men in Relancia were used to killing people, and she needed to be ready to do the same if she wanted their respect. These louts here had it soft. If she could handle armour-clad soldiers, a few men in overalls, even if they had super strength, wouldn’t pose an issue.

“There are too many of us. Draw her into the open where there’s more room.” A bearded man shouted. Two of the men tried to get in close. Sam turned into the crates, running through the lanes between them. From there, the narrow spaces would allow her to get the drop on the men. After the first corner, she crouched down and waited. When two men came behind her, she sprung up and tackled them. Kicking one in the head, she ripped the gears off the second. Using him as a springboard, she launched herself into the air and landed on the top of the crate. It was a little taller than her, but she couldn’t manage any more height. Back in Relancia, she could jump to the top of a tree.

“She’s going up top. Get to the other side.” A man in green said. She felt her leg yanked out, and she landed flat on her face. The same guy tried to pull her off the crate, but she dug into the wood, stopping herself. Grunting, she used her arms to spin around and crush the man’s shoulder gear with her foot.

He fell with a shout.

Sam was back on her feet before he could hit the ground. Turning around, she dove over another set of hands, trying to pull her back down, stomping on the metal fingers. Running along the top of the crates, she jumped from open space to open space, dodging the arms that reached for her. The exoskeletons allowed them to stand just above the edge of the crates, but they couldn’t get to her. At the edge of the warehouse, she saw Lord Robert moving towards the door.

“Come back here, you prick!” she shouted.

Turning toward her voice, a scowl filled his face.

“You’re not getting away that easily.” If he stepped outside, there would be no stopping him. There the police could help him and arrest her. There was no way they would believe her over a business leader like him. She needed to take care of him here.

She raced across the crates, outpacing the men chasing her. Launching herself from the last one, and landed in front of Robert. Staggering from the impact, she reached for his jacket. “I have you!”

She heard the shot before she felt the bullet hit her stomach. At first, she couldn’t believe what was happening. Her stomach felt tingly. She tried to take a step forward and grab hold of his jacket before a coldness engulfed her. “What the hell?” She clutched her stomach and collapsed, falling onto the hard floor.

“Who fired that?” Lord Robert’s voice rang through the pain. He sounded annoyed. Sam strained her neck up and saw Albert step forward with a smoking pistol.

“I did, sir. I’m sorry, but I couldn’t let her touch your person.” Albert bowed his head and handed Robert the gun.

“Why?” she gasped out. Her fingers felt warm as the blood started to pool around her. Her stomach was hot, but she started to shiver. Her breath came out in gasps. Why the hell couldn’t I be invulnerable? Why did I have to let my anger control me?

“I never asked you to kill her, Albert. I can’t use her dead. This is quite unfortunate.” There was a slap and a sharp clang. Sam tried to look up, but she was numb.

She felt Lord Robert bend down and touch her forehead. His smell was unmistakable. A mix of spice and vanilla. She wanted to shake him off and break his jaw, but if she let go of her stomach with both hands, she felt like everything would spill out.

“I hate you!” Sam clenched her teeth, shoved one hand deep into her stomach and slowed the bleeding. She stuck out the other hand to grab his leg. If she was going to die, she was going to take him with her.

“I thought so. You are a tenacious beast,” he said, kicking off her hand and leaving a bloody print on his trousers. He sighed in irritation. She saw him stand up and speak to someone. “Get an ambulance here, now. We can still save her.”

“Why are you doing this?” She reached out. “Why are you doing this to me?” she said again, the pain flooding her body.

“You are not getting out of this world that easily. You still have so much to pay for.” Robert stepped back out of the reach of her hand. He glanced back at his pant leg and grunted. “You’ve only begun to make a dent in the toll you owe me. When I’ve gotten my satisfaction, it’s Nadia’s turn.”

Sam heard his words and understood the meaning, but she couldn’t accept them. Her legs didn’t work anymore, but his last words forced her to lift her head. She had to know what he meant.

“Nadia’s turn? What do you mean?” Sam whispered. It was getting hard to speak. She felt too cold.

Lord Robert bent down. “Eon told me all about why he had to stick you under the memory spell. That fat twit so wanted to use you as a warrior, but you were just too dangerous. I wished you had remembered what you did here, even if it was safer for him.” He stood up and adjusted his suit. “Now that you’re here, Nadia is waiting for her pound of flesh. She hated you more than I do but was willing to let it go when you were in the other world. Unlike me, she is quite forgiving. Now that you’re back, well, we’ll see if the sight of you doesn’t work towards changing her mind.”

“Come back here. Where’s Nadia? What happened? Tell me!” Sam heard him walk away as everything went black.