Page 122 of A Bond So Deadly

I’m about to pass a dark alleyway on my right, when a woman’s trembling voice catches my attention. “Please. I don’t want any trouble.”

If I had any survival instincts at all, I’d keep walking, but then I’d always wonder what happened. It’s fine. It’s totally fine. I’m sure someone’s just getting handsy, and whoever this woman is, she’ll give him a piece of her mind and head home.

I turn my head, and it is definitely not fine. A man with a bald head and baggy jeans, is cornering a young woman in a skimpy black dress and wicked heels that I’m immediately envious of. She looks to be close to my age, with long blond hair that reaches past her shoulders, and ears full of piercings. There’s a slight glaze to her eyes and she presses a hand to the wall as she blinks rapidly. She’s either really drunk…or someone’s given her something.

I chew my lip, not sure what I should do. The bald man moves in closer, running his hand along her hip, and he ignores her when she tries to bat him away unsuccessfully.

Oh, hell no.

I peer around frantically, hoping there’s someone out here who can help. The streets are quiet, but an older guy in a business suit is about to walk past me, and I try to grab his arm and get his attention. “Excuse me, can you please⁠—”

He shrugs me off, glaring at me as he continues on.

Geez. There are times when I enjoy living in the city, and other times when I’m reminded why I prefer fictional characters.

Crap. I really should have taken Andrew up on his offer to walk me home.

“Don’t worry, gorgeous. I’ll take real good care of you,” I hear the bald man say from the alleyway.

I curse then, because I really should have prioritized getting a better phone over that last set of special edition hardcovers I snagged. Preferably a phone that doesn’t go flat every few hours. If I had a working mobile, I could call the cops.

I peer around. The only businesses that might be open include the convenience store that’s a few blocks down, or my diner, but Andrew is probably gone by now.

The woman starts sobbing, and I know I can’t leave her like that. Before I can stop myself, I’m walking into the alleyway. “Hey, Candace!” I call out, my heart thumping wildly as I wave my hand. What are you doing, Shade? I say in a singsong voice to myself. I think about what’s in my backpack. A plastic water bottle and a book I borrowed from the library with a morally gray dark fae king. Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to help me.

The woman is still in a daze, but the man sees me and he looks less than enthused.

“I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” I chirp to the woman. “Hurry up! We’re late and they’re waiting for us!”

The woman looks confused, but she stumbles toward me.

The bald man watches silently, and I don’t like the way he’s looking at us. He’s too…unbothered.

Forcing a smile, I wrap my arm around the woman’s shoulders, beaming at her like we’re close friends.

She jerks a little at my touch, before leaning into me. “What are you doing?” she hisses under her breath.

“No idea,” I admit. “Trying to save your life? Who is that creep?”

She shakes her head like she’s trying to clear her mind. “No idea. He’s been following me for a while. Ever since I left my friends at the bar.”

Oh, great. I hope that the man will back off now that she’s no longer alone, but when I peer back, he’s slowly following us. Damn.

We reach the end of the alleyway, and just as we’re about to exit onto the pavement, two more men step out of the darkness against the walls, and they give us wolfish grins.

I jump and barely hold in my scream. “Holy crap, you scared me!” I yelp, clutching at my chest with my free hand. “That’s rude, you know. Now, if you’ll kindly move aside, we have somewhere to be.”

I swear I can feel my heart in my throat, and the woman tenses beside me.

“Oh, you’re not going anywhere, princess,” the man on the right says. He looks like he’s the same age as the balding man, and his sleeves are rolled up, showing a grotesque tattoo with a badly drawn mermaid on his forearm.

“That’s right,” the man on the left adds. “This party is just gettin’ started.”

Yep, it’s official. We’re gonna die. “Well, thanks for the invitation but that doesn’t really work for us. We have our own party to attend. Our friends are—” My words die in my throat, because the bald guy has crept closer behind us without me realizing, and he pulls out a knife that glints in the weak lamplight. It’s not some small pocketknife, either. No, it’s like one of those big hunting knives I’ve seen on the news. Oh, crap.

“What now?” the girl whispers to me.

Truthfully, I haven’t figured that part out yet. Instinctively, I want to scream and wail like a banshee, but it’s like the sound catches in my throat. I force myself to breathe.