Page 31 of Alaric

And not like me.

But I couldn’t seem to make myself turn back, go back to my room, and call the police.

Instead, I was getting to my feet, and looking through the peephole.

Kylo’s door was wide open.

My stomach clenched at the sight, knowing it was him, knowing he was the one who was hurt.

Kylo, the only man that Frida liked. And, in my personal opinion, if a reactive dog liked or approved of you, you were a good person. Even if you did sketchy things to earn a living.

I went down off my tippy toes, and started to work my many locks free.

I didn’t look again out of the peephole.

Which, in hindsight, was a major mistake.

My mind was on saving Kylo.

I wasn’t thinking clearly.

I just wrenched the door open wide.

In time to see three men turn around in the elevator.

And the one in the center, the tall one with a shaved head and an assortment of black and red tattoos, glared right at me, starting to move forward, but one of his friends yanked him back, holding him back from, what? Attacking me?

I was frozen on the spot, unable to move either out or back into the relative safety of my apartment.

So I watched as he raised his hand, twisting his fingers into the shape of a gun, and miming shooting.

Me.

Shootingme.

Then the doors were closed, and they were gone.

My entire body was trembling as I tripped across the hallway.

I didn’t rush in. I didn’t even call his name.

I tiptoed into his apartment as if I knew I was going to find a dead body, not a victim who needed saving.

My lower lip was wobbling as I took in the mess of the space. Open and upturned drawers in his kitchen. Slit couch cushions. Art pulled off the wall.

Someone had to have been… looking for something, right?

Was that why they’d fired?

To scare him into giving them the location of what they were looking for?

I moved through the wreckage, careful to sidestep the shards of broken glass.

My heartbeat was a drum in my chest, the sensation of it reverberating through my entire sternum, the sound pulsing in my ears.

Swallowing hard, I moved down the hallway, glancing into his spare bedroom, but finding just more mess there.

It wasn’t until I was in the doorway of the primary bedroom that I saw him.

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