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I had no one.
They came out of hell stronger, while I crawled out with nothing more than animosity and pain.
I hated who I had become, but nothing was left of me to care.
The bartender set a shot of vodka down, smelling of cheap grain, the pungent fumes watering my eyes.
“Perfect,” I muttered, slamming it back. The liquid burned down my throat, making me flinch. “Another,” I croaked out, downing it the moment she finished pouring.
The hair on the back of my neck prickled, unease gripping my gut like it understood something I didn’t. Standing to my full height, I placed the glass down slowly, my head curving back to the door I had come through, a force pulling me through to the other side. My lungs tightened with anxiety.
“Thanks.” I pulled out a few coins and tossed them on the bar, my nerves firing while my boots took me through the exit. My walk became a run, the vodka buzzing in my head, making me slower than I wanted.
My hand grabbed the door handle to the steerage, hoping my intuition was wrong and she was sound asleep just as I left her. When I yanked it open, my gut dropped to the floor.
Fuck.
At least eight men, a mix of fae and human, surrounded her sleeping form. A few had ropes in their hands, and others had knives and guns, circling their prey with their black souls, their revolting intentions clearly marked on their faces. The rest of the passengers looked away, not wanting to get involved.
“Cover her mouth,” a bearded fae whispered.
“You touch her…” I palmed my weapon, my nose flaring, moving into the room. “I’ll be using the straw to wipe your blood off my boots in a minute.”
The bearded fae looked back at me with amusement, a smirk tipping his mouth. “You think so?”
“I know so.” I stepped closer, my gun pointed at him.
“You are outnumbered.” The man stood, pulling out a gun and a knife, nodding down to her. “This little piece of ass really worth you dyin’ over tonight?”
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“It was her pussy I’m after, though I’m open to you both.” He licked his lips.
Fury blazed through me, eclipsing the sound around me, zeroing in on her like a bomb. I needed to get her far away from these men. But he was right; I was outnumbered, and she was too far from me to grab her before they did.Why the fuck did you leave her alone, asshole?
Her body lay limp as if she was still sleeping, though a hint of green eyes peered at me through her lashes, and a haughty grin twitched her cheek as her hand balled up.
What the hell are you doing?I felt myself scream at her in my head. These men had weapons; she had nothing.
I saw her move, and in that second, I knew it was all going down, and there was no going back.
What a way to die.
Her fist smashed into the bearded man’s face, blood spurting out as he bent over, grabbing his nose. Leaping up, she kicked him hard with her boot, driving the heel into the same broken nose, crushing the cartilage into his brain, a scream of agony ricocheting off the walls. Scarlet reached forward, grabbing his gun as his body hit the ground.
What the hell?
Moving in, I fought my way through the throng, bullets spraying, people screaming, but my attention couldn’t be dragged away from her for long.
Something about her was feral, wild, but also trained. She reminded me more and more of Birdie, the way she fought, but also something regal in the way she moved. Animalistic, but elegant. A mix that was lightning to watch.
Ripping off part of her torn sweater dress, she slipped it over another man’s head, twisting it until it cut into his neck, obstructing his air supply. The man scraped at the cloth to get oxygen before she spun, breaking his neck.
Another man slipped up behind her with a knife, the blade going for her neck.
“Scarlet!” I bellowed her name in warning, but she didn’t respond to my call.
“Shit!” Ramming my elbow into someone’s throat, I pointed my gun at the man about to slit her throat, the booms bursting in my eardrums and chest like cannons as I fired one after another until my gun clicked empty, fury growling from deep inside. Brain and blood splattered, the body dropping in a thump behind her.
