Experiment (Hybrid Book 2) by Emma Jaye Read Free Book Online

His opponent grinned and ducked again as Connor took a swing at his head, and he was rocked as the Kalzirian caught his chin with a fist.
    “You might be big, but you’re slow. Ready to give up Federation man or would you rather be skewered?”
    Reassessing his opponent, Connor decided he could use the man’s arrogance against him. The fight should have been over already, with Connor having a blade in his guts, but the man wanted to toy with him for a while. Perhaps arrogance was a genetic trait with these people; Tenset certainly had it in spades.
    Connor grinned back at him, wiping blood from his mouth.
    “Just getting started Kalzirian. I always wondered how you backward, inbreds settle things.”
    Baxter rushed him, the half sword sliced through the air in a complex pattern. Connor managed to duck and swerve enough to avoid the first two swings, but the third cut him above the eye. The sting and triumphant smile of his opponent released something in Connor, and his conscious mind took a back seat whilst those endless hours of self-defence training kicked in.
    Baxter lunged again, slashing at Connor’s right side, but he didn’t connect. Twisting to avoid a second sword thrust to the left side of his abdomen, Connor hit the man’s wrist hard, forcing him to drop the blade. Now weaponless, Baxter instantly attacked with fists and feet.
    Each blow Connor took sent another jolt of rage coursing through his veins, he roared and pressed his attack, hitting Baxter hard twice, head and gut, until the man twisted to the side causing Connor’s next attempted kick to his side to miss. Connor was thrown off balance as he over extended, and he stumbled. The guard planted a boot in his back as Connor went past him and shoved him into a tree trunk. Turning quickly, he caught the boot Baxter aimed at his throat and pushed his opponent backwards, using his height and weight advantage.
    Landing in the leaf litter, the guard saw his dropped half sword a few feet away he flipped to his belly and reached for it. Seeing his advantage slipping away, Connor threw himself on top of him and pressed his forearm against the man’s throat. His opponent struggled, twisting and fighting to throw him off. This was the man that had tried to rape Chesara. Connor’s rage at the violation had him hauling his victim backwards until the lack of struggles from the body beneath him brought him back to his senses.
    Gradually he lessened his grip, alert to any more fight, but the man continued to lie limply. Breathing hard, he stood up and rolled the guard over with his foot. The man’s eyes were still open.
    Staggering away from the body he retched, he’d never killed a man before. After a few moments, when his stomach was behaving again, he went to check on the man he’d hit with a branch. In order to see clearly, he had to wipe the blood dripping into his eye with his sleeve.
    The man groaned as Connor turned him over, so he quickly divested him of his weapons and belts. The man’s sword belt secured his hands, and the one that had held his trousers up, now restrained his feet. A handkerchief provided a suitable gag. After propping him up against a tree, he tucked both sets of weapons into the sword belt he’d taken from the dead man.
    As soon as he’d started back towards Chesara, he ‘looked’ in on her. The readouts were erratic and high, showing she was frightened and in pain. Automatically, he broke into a run, fear renewing his dwindling energy as he continued pounding through the woods with no thought of who might hear him.
    Two large figures stepping out onto the trail he was running down caused him to skid to a halt in the moonlight. He drew one of the swords he’d appropriated as he glanced behind him. Two more men now stood behind him. Two had been difficult to handle, four would be impossible. The only thing he could do was keep them occupied as long as possible.
    The strength went out of his legs as he recognised Federation