Page 66 of A Raven Repents

“Wait,” she said, before he closed her in. She was suddenly overcome with gratitude. She reached for his hand, wanting to tell him she loved him too. But not yet. He wouldn’t believe her if she said it now. “Thank you, for a lovely evening.”

He pressed his lips against the back of her hand. “Goodnight, sweetheart.” But before he could shut the door, running footsteps came from behind the cab.

A man grabbed Giles and put a knife against the side of his neck. “Give me your money.”

Chapter

Sixteen

A scream lodged in her throat. This couldn’t be happening. Not now.

Giles ducked out of the man’s grasp and ran back down the alley away from her. Donoghue leapt from the cab. But the man caught Giles again. He slashed wildly with the knife, and Giles screamed.

“No!” Christina’s cry echoed through the alleyway. She scrambled out of the cab and ran as fast as her feet would carry her. “Giles!”

Donoghue tackled the man. “Get her inside!”

Giles howled with pain. His hands were pressed over his face, blood oozing and dripping everywhere. She reached for him, but the world flipped upside down. Her breath was forced out of her as she landed face down over a large shoulder.

“No!” she screeched. “I have to get to him! Let me go!” She stretched as far as she could, as Giles wailed and collapsed onto the ground. But the distance between them only grew. She kicked her feet and pounded her fists against the security guard’s back, to no avail. “Put me down!”

Once inside, he put her back on her feet, pulled on some kind of cord a few times, then shut the door in her face, leaving her alone in the hallway.

She slammed her hands against the door. “Giles!” she sobbed.

Allister appeared at her side, along with another man she didn’t know. “Get her over to Raven House,” Allister barked.

“Come with me, miss.”

“No, I can’t leave him. He’s hurt.” She struggled against the man, but she was no match for his strength. When she tried to sit down, he picked her up with a muttered apology and threw her over his shoulder, the same as the last man.

She bounced against him as he took the stairs two at a time, completely ignoring her fists as she pounded them against his back.

“I’ll take her from here,” Ash said when they reached the top. “You man the balcony.”

Ash put an arm around her shoulders. “I know you’re frightened right now, Christina, but I don’t have time to argue. Are you going to walk with me? Or do I need to carry you as well?”

“Giles is out there, and he’s bleeding,” she cried. “Please, I have to go back.” She could see from the change in his demeanor that he hadn’t known Giles was hurt. But he still remained calm. “Please,” she begged, gasping through desperate sobs.

“He’s not alone out there. His first priority would be your safety. Come with me, so I can make sure he has every resource I can muster.”

Giles needed Ash right now. Needed all the help he could offer. With a nod, she took his hand, continuing to cry. “Please help him. Please.”

He led her through another door, into a large room with nothing but a grand piano in its center.

“Gwen!” he shouted, and his wife ran into the room.

At the same time, a man rushed in from the hallway. “What’s happened?”

Ash held up a hand to him. “Gwen, keep her in here. No one goes in or out of here but me.”

She nodded and wrapped her arms around Christina. “It’s alright.”

“You’re with me, Fogg.” Ash gestured to the door. “I’ll do everything in my power for him, Christina. You have my word.”

“Please, just help him,” Christina begged once more before the two men rushed out the door and the lock clicked into place.

“It’s going to be alright,” Gwen said quietly.