Page 1 of Us Defiant Few

1

You might not have been at the start, but I’m happy you’re at the finish.

Khalani Kanes had been defined by many words.

Orphan.

Criminal.

Forsaken.

But a single title wasn’t enough. Not anymore. Untethered rage boiled inside her. It was an endless type of madness.

All her life, she’d been lied to.

Love was supposed to be the defining characteristic that set her free. But with a cold dagger pressed against her throat, Khalani was painfully aware that love only leads to endings.

She’d just never thought it would be her own.

“Takeshi,” Khalani rasped, peering into his dark gaze.

His firm body was the same. His chiseled face and silky hair appeared no different. But Takeshi’s charcoal eyes held zero recognition of her. They were cold and utterly devoid of life, as if a stranger had taken over his body.

The blade bit deeper into her jugular. She flinched as a dribble of warm blood cascaded down her throat.

“I’ll only ask one more time,” Takeshi hissed. “How do you know my name?”

Khalani’s mouth parted, but no cries or pleas escaped. She reached for his face, willing him to recognize her.

Any minute now, he’d break out of it.

He had to.

But before she could speak and get through, a large figure slammed into Takeshi like a battering ram. She gasped as Brock tore him off her, but Takeshi elbowed Brock in the stomach and clocked him in the throat, easily dislodging him.

Takeshi turned back to Khalani, teeth clenched, but this time, something changed. His muscles coiled and shifted, and Takeshi’s eyes flared with fury. She slowly crawled backward, chills running up her spine.

He adjusted his grip on the blade. Without hesitation, he drove the gleaming steel straight toward her heart.

Khalani threw up her hands, instinctively shutting her eyes.

But the pain never came.

She looked up to find Adan and Serene grappling with Takeshi. They grunted and heaved, desperately trying to hold him back.

“Stop it, Takeshi!” Serene cried, struggling to hold his left arm with both her hands wrapped around it, her full weight dragging against him. But Takeshi surged forward, his deadly focus zeroed in on her.

“Snap the fuck out of it, man,” Adan barked, holding on to his other arm desperately, but Takeshi snarled, shaking off their grips.

Brock suddenly appeared from behind and wrapped his thick bicep around Takeshi’s neck, choking him out.

Takeshi’s face turned purple, his limbs shaking.

“Don’t kill him!” she yelled, but the others ignored her, struggling to pull his raging form back.

Khalani could barely breathe, let alone think. She scrambled to her feet as they continued fighting, his feral gaze locked onto her, fists clenched like she was the cause of the world’s endless suffering. Takeshi suddenly squared his shoulders and charged ahead. Even with Brock, Serene, and Adan holding him back, they were no match for his rage.

Crash!