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I knew what he meant without having to hear him.

He didn’t want me to help. He didn’t want me to stay.

But I couldn’t stop. And I wouldn’t leave him.

My voice tore out of me. “Back off of him!”

Laughter cut through my ears. “Oh? What are you going to do, stranger?”

I didn’t answer with words. My hands moved before my brain caught up and I lunged into the first one I could get my hands on. I drove my shoulder into his ribs with every ounce of rage I carried. We went down together, his head bouncing off of the pavement with a thud that should have satisfied me.

It didn’t.

I kept wailing on him. I aimed for his eyes.

“The fuck?”

Of course it wasn’t long before it registered with them. They definitely saw me now—really saw me—absolutely destroying one of their own as he screamed like a little pussy.

I felt their hands grip onto me, wrenching my arms back until the joints in my shoulders shrieked. They hauled me backward, away from my prey. As I chanced a look back down to Silas—the only ally I had here—I realized with cold certainty:

We might actually die tonight.

“Who the hell is this guy? Some idiot off the street?” One of the two who had my arms asked aloud. The man I was punching crawled off of the ground with a loud groan.

“No, wait,” the man on my right spoke up, hands shooting up to grab my chin. He roughly turned my face to meet him.

“Let go of me,” I hissed. I was trying my best to be intimidating, but was coming up short. Something about this guy—the one who tilted my face from side to side, analyzing me—just didn’t feel right. I had seen him before. The pit in my stomach told me so.

“Just look at you,” he said, curled lips turning into a sadistic smile. “Those dark eyes. You’re a Hansen.”

I swallowed as the memory finally found its way back to me. The alley. The first night I had encountered Silas. Our first kiss. This guy had been there. He was one of the two men traveling with Silas that evening.

The one I had punched was waltzing up to me now, confirming with a nod. “Oh yeah. I remember.”

“And not just any Hansen. The Noah Hansen in the flesh. The man that’s caused us all of this trouble. You’re the reason I had to get my hands dirty tonight.”

The man I’d attacked whipped his fist across my face. The blow staggered me, my vision swimming for a half-second before snapping back. I guess I deserved it.

He shook out his hand, knuckles whitening. “And you just... showed up? Served yourself right up to us, like our own little feast.”

“Was it worth it?” The one on my right leaned in, his breath hot against my face. “Letting him stick his cock in you?”

I tried to catch Silas’s gaze from the ground, but his eyes were somewhere else entirely. Looking upwards. Toward the sky.

Tears burned at the corners of my eyes but I kept them in. He better not leave me.

“Family of pigs,” the other man spat, showering me with his disgusting saliva.

I surged against their grip, muscles tensing against their hold. “Get the fuck off me!”

Their fingers tightened around my arm. “Or what?”

I broke free for like half a second—I wasn’t even sure how. Maybe all of that Adderall I had taken was finally doing something other than just giving me the shakes. Either way, I had just enough momentum to lunge forward, and wrench one arm loose.

I threw my elbow back into the dude behind me, heard him grunt, then ripped my other arm free. I landed another two shots, my knuckles connecting with their chest and jaw. I spun on my heel to swing again, but my fist met empty air. They were already on me, tackling me back down in seconds.

My back slammed into the ground, and I threw my arms over my face, folding in on myself as the blows rained down. Through the gaps in my forearms, I saw them all moving in, ready to get a piece of me.