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I glanced at the sky just as the rain started up. It came fast and hard and from out of nowhere. For once I welcomed it, as it would further shield us from view. Especially since it was pouring down in sheets.
“Hang on a second,” I muttered, pausing momentarily. “Here.”
Shrugging my way out of my jacket, I draped it over her. It offered minimal protection if anything, but it was better than nothing. She huddled under it gratefully.
“Thanks.”
I dragged her even further, sprinting down side-streets and diving our way through a twisted maze of alleys. As we fled, a thousand questions bounced around in my mind. None of them were good ones.
I wanted to know how she knew them. Even more, I wanted to know how she’d ended up in that alley, and why they’d attacked her in the first place.
At the same time, I wanted even more to mind my own fucking business. And that instinct took over for everything else.
“Hey…”
The woman standing next to me was barefoot, bleeding, and soaking wet. But she was heartbreakingly beautiful, too. She had smooth mocha skin, with luscious, straight dark hair and deep brown eyes. Hell, if she weren’t covered in fresh blood and alley slime she might even be gorgeous.
“You’re safe now,” I told her, and at this point it was the truth. We’d moved at least six city blocks. Not to mention the fact our pursuers probably weren’t up for much of a chase.
“W—Who are you?” she asked me. “Where did you come from? And why did you—”
“Don’t,” I shushed her quietly. “You’re okay, and that’s all that matters.”
Someone approached from the left, and I pushed her against the closest wall for protection. Our bodies touched all over. I could feel her soft, supple chest, heaving against my stomach…
Then a couple passed behind us, running through the puddles. Laughing in the rain.
Our eyes locked, and a moment passed between us. I could feel her heart now, thundering away in her chest. Our faces were so close we were breathing the same air. Her hot breath intermingled with mine.
Abruptly I took a step back, but found myself oddly reluctant to let go. But Ihadto go. And so did she.
“There’s a hospital right there,” I squinted, pointing into the night. “And a police precinct two blocks beyond.”
My words barely registered. My beautiful victim was still standing before me in shock, all but trembling in disbelief. Still, I could see defiance in her eyes.
“You won’t go to either one of them though,” I mused. “Will you?”
Unsurprisingly, she shook her head no.
“Didn’t think so.”
I took back my jacket. It felt like a shitty thing to do considering the circumstances, but I wasn’t leaving any part of myself behind. Not after what I’d seen.
Then I walked away.
It was the one thing I hadn’t been able to do my whole life, and here I was actually doing it. Shit, I was almost proud of myself. Almost.
“Oh, and hey,” I called back. “Want a strong piece of advice?”
The woman stood wearily beneath the yellowish streetlamp, dripping rain. Eventually she nodded back from her place on the sidewalk.
“Stay far, far away from the Lozanos,” I said, before turning away.
Three
BRYNNE
My timecard seemed to move in slow-motion as I slid it into the slot. Then again, everything was moving in slow-motion today. My head was still in a fog from last night. The left side of my face — all covered in makeup — felt like it was still on fire.
