thudding sound behind her. She spun on her heel and saw Lucas
walking steadily toward her with long, forceful strides.
?What are you doing here?? he half barked, half whispered.
Helen took a couple of steps back and then made herself stop and
hold her ground. In the gray light she could see the white bodies of
the three sisters dragging themselves through the sandy grass,
crawling up the soft rises, shivering with sobs.
?How did you get behind me? Were you following me?? she asked
in an accusing voice.
?Yeah, I was,? he spat out, still coming toward her. ?What the hell
are you doing on my family?s land??
Too late Helen realized that by coming to his house she had
crossed some line. Where there had been hatred, Helen could now
see violence. It distorted his features and added menace to his
stance. He was still graceful, but almost too cruel to look at. Good,
she thought. Let?s do this.
She lowered her shoulder and closed the distance between them,
barreling into his chest and tumbling onto the ground with him
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under her. She reared up to drive her fist into his face, but he
grabbed her arms. She was on top and should have had the upper
hand, but she had never hit anything and she could tell from the
way he never wasted a movement that he had been fighting his entire
life. Helen felt him do something with his hips and then he was
on top. Her arms were pinned above her head and her heels were
left to scrape uselessly at the ground. She tried to bite his face, but
he jerked his head away.
?Lie still or I will kill you,? Lucas warned through gritted teeth.
He was panting, not because he was winded, but because he was
trying to control himself.