The Air Singer (The Cantors) by K. Huber Read Free Book Online Page B

attention diverted, Tally charged and stabbed his shoulder while hammering his knuckles with the onyx until he dropped the stun gun. She pushed to get past him, but her small frame made little progress against his bulk. His good hand grabbed her arm and swung her against the cabinets, knocking the wind out of her. She collapsed to the floor gasping for breath.
    Roland came into view , his eyes focused on her attacker. He grabbed the giant from behind and pulled him back away from her. They crashed into the dinette table and both men were wrestling on the floor. Trapped underneath the weight of his opponent, Roland wrapped his arms around his neck in what looked like the sleeper hold she watched on late night wrestling shows. The dark eyes of the intruder rolled back in his head as he lost consciousness.
    A movement near her bedroom drew her eyes toward Sean as he began to get up. Unable to speak, she crawled toward him while grabbing the stun gun. Roland, determined to keep his opponent from getting up, could not see the other trying to sneak up from behind. Tally struggled to get to Sean as he reached the pile of broken wood that had once been a dinette chair and grabbed a leg that had splintered from its base and lifted it to hit Roland. Tally lunged with all her remaining strength, pressing the glowing blue tip of the stun gun to Sean’s leg. A loud buzz ripped through the air as Sean began screaming and fell back to the floor. Roland shoved the unconscious lump he had been dealing with to the side and launched onto Sean. Wrenching the table leg from Sean, he pinned him beneath his knee.
    “You have a problem understanding me lately, so let me spell it out for you,” Roland lifted the makeshift weapon to his side, “Touch her again, meet God.” His arm swung down with the force of sledgehammer onto Sean’s head.
    Tally lay still on the floor trying to catch her breath. Roland threw the piece of wood to the ground and scrambled to her. He lifted her to lean against his chest and ran his hand along her jaw. “Slow even breaths, Tally, Try to take slow even breaths.”
    Tally relaxed into his solid frame supporting her. His touch sent chills through her as she slowly brought her breathing back to a normal rate. Looking into his blue eyes, she saw genuine concern, but once she recovered from the shock of what transpired in the last few minutes, one question needed to be asked.
    “Why are you here?”
    “I thought I was protecting you, but you seem to be deadly with a steak knife and a rock.”
    Tally pulled away from Roland to look at the clutter of broken wood and bodies lying in front of her.
    “Are they dead?”
    “No, but we need to get out of here.” He stood up and offered a hand to lift her up. “Grab a change of clothes and I’ll tie these guys up.”
    Tally took his extended hand. “You didn’t answer my question. Why are you here?” She allowed him to pull her up and stood to face her protector. “How do you know where I live?”
    Roland turned his e yes away and walked back toward the kitchen. “Do you have anything to string these guys up with?”
    “Stop it!” Tally yelled. “I’m not some doe eyed damsel in distress that you can ignore when I ask questions you don’t want to answer!”
    Roland stopped walking, “I promise to explain everything.” He turned around to face her and met Tally’s eyes. “Please just let me take you somewhere we can talk.”
    Tally let her shields down a second time bracing herself for anyth ing. Warmth filled her with the familiar green and gold colors of his aura. He didn’t intend to harm her and he protected her, at least from Sean. She replaced her buffer and decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t have any rope, but I might have some duct tape in the kitchen under the sink.”
    She began heading to the bedroom to shove a pair of jeans and a couple tees in a canvas shopping bag. Before she got to the door, she heard Roland from the