Just A Touch Excerpt!

As promised I am providing an excerpt from Just A Touch.  Hope you enjoy!

  I watch Arianna head towards her car, keys in hand and I stand. I begin heading back towards my house to get in my car and follow her. I keep an eye on her to make sure she reaches her car safely, but stop when she pauses. I scan the area, worrying that I may have missed something.

  About the time I see the man running towards her from the opposite side of the house Arianna is already turning to face him. I bolt out of the trees and scream “ARIANNA!” as loud as I can.

  I watch the events unfold in slow motion as I run across the yard to reach her. She gets hit in the head with what looks like some sort of pipe and crumples to the ground. My steps freeze and my heart feels like it is being ripped from my chest.

  In the split second I’m frozen in place the attacker notices me and starts to advance. I immediately go into defense mode. Guardians are trained fighters so he shouldn’t be much trouble for me, even though I haven’t quite finished all of my training yet.

  The attacker is big and intimidating. He has a scar on his right arm that is just visible underneath his shirt sleeve. I meet his eyes as he advances towards me. They are hard eyes full of hate and determination and I know he isn’t going down without a fight.

  As he swings the pipe towards my head I duck and aim a swinging kick into his legs trying to knock him off balance. He spins away from me and I barely graze his leg. He lunges at me once more and I dodge to the left, bringing my fist into direct contact with his jaw and spinning so I am now between him and Arianna’s limp form. This causes him to lose his concentration for a split second and I aim a kick directly into his midsection causing him to double over, but he recovers quickly.

  As the fight progresses I hear movement behind me. Thinking it is Arianna waking up I keep my attention focused on the threat in front of me, allowing his accomplice to sneak up behind me unnoticed.
 
  By the time I sense his presence it’s too late and I duck just enough to keep whatever it is he’s swinging at me from coming into direct contact with my temple, but the impact is enough to bring me to my knees.
 
  As the world sways from the impact the original attacker kicks me in the stomach and brings his pipe down on the back of my head.  As my body falls to the ground I think, I’m so sorry Arianna, I failed you. And then everything goes black.