It was like being released from sub-zero water, and Fox yelled with pain and surprise when she landed face-down at the bottom of the stairs with John Abbott on her back. The wind left her lungs in a rush, cutting off the noise, and she released another sound as if she might be choking. What in the bleeding hell...Christ, that bugger was heavy! Her jaw hurt, and when she managed to get an arm free she could feel the swelling where the punch had landed. Cough, gasp, cough...
"Off me." Her voice had returned to normal, and she couldn't remember any of what had happened beyond the slamming of the door on the second floor. She knew that she hurt, and she knew there was a man pinning her to the floor. "Geroff me." Louder this time. Something had hold of her foot. She couldn't see what, and she couldn't kick loose either, Abbott was too big for her to move. What had happened to her, and why couldn't she remember anything but a pair of blue eyes blazing out at her?
"Get off me, ye fat sod! Whatever happened, it's done." The freed hand rubbed at her jaw, and the apprentice checked for loose teeth. At least she was on her stomach instead of her back. That'd be a fine thing, wouldn't it, to have him find out she wasn't male after...whatever it was that had taken place? Whoever had slugged her, they packed a wallop.