Page 142 of Jay Bird

When Liu slowly turned back, blood appeared at the corner of his lip.

“You fucking bitch.”

Under any other circumstances, Willow might have been terrified by the rage in his expression. Instead, she thought about Nova telling her that the goal wasn’t necessarily to win. The goal was to create an opportunity.

Liu came at her again, but she ducked away from his arm and shoved him hard enough to make him stumble. Another man grabbed her from behind, and Willow broke his hold before he could secure it.

She was fighting with all her might, and for a few seconds, they were having trouble controlling her.

Willow spotted Lily sitting on the pavement nearby and lunged toward her, but someone caught the back of her shirt. She twisted free, only to have another man grab her arm. She struck him, tried to move again, and felt a third man wrap both arms around her waist.

There were too many of them. Nova had never pretended a few weeks of training could turn Willow into someone capable of defeating three grown men. She had taught her to survive long enough to find an opening, but every time Willow created one, another man closed it.

Still, she refused to make it easy for them. She kicked, twisted, scratched, and used everything she had learned until one man finally caught her legs while another forced her upper body toward the pavement.

Willow screamed Mia’s name again as the side of her face hit the asphalt.

She could see Lily. One of the men had picked her up, and her daughter was sobbing while reaching toward Willow.

“Momma!”

“Don’t touch her!” Willow screamed as she fought against the men holding her. “Get your fucking hands off my daughter!”

“Hold her still!”

“I’m trying!”

Some distant part of Willow almost wanted to laugh at that.

It was taking three of them. Three grown men were struggling to control her when, once upon a time, one man coming up behind her had been enough to steal her entire life.

The thought gave Willow another surge of strength. She ripped one arm free and drove her elbow backward, connecting with someone’s face. The man cursed, and Willow managed to get one knee beneath herself before something sharp pierced her upper arm.

She knew immediately what it was. The terror that swept through her was worse than anything she had felt since seeing Liu beside her SUV.

“No!”

Willow twisted violently, trying to see who had injected her.

“What did you give me?”

Nobody answered.

She tried to push herself onto her knees, but her arms were already becoming heavy.

“No. No, please.”

She hated the fear she heard in her own voice, but she wasn’t afraid of what they were going to do to her. She was terrified for Lily.

Willow clawed at the pavement, trying desperately to reach her daughter even as the strength began draining from her muscles. The men holding her slowly eased some of their weight away as the drug did what they hadn’t been able to accomplish on their own.

“Lily.”

“Momma!”

“I’m here, baby.”

Her vision began to blur. She couldn’t pass out.