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Still, I preferred to be the center of their undesirable attention than have her as their target.
“Run and don’t stop, Lux.”
A boot hit my stomach, and another connected with ribs. Nothing cracked, as far as I could tell, but that didn’t mean much when I’d been reduced to drooling on the alley floor.
“Killian!” she cried, hervoice nearer than it should have been. She needed to go, run free like she always wanted.
I should have taken the damn key.
Breath whooshed from my lungs with the next hit. My field of vision darkened at the edges, narrowing to focus on her. I tilted mychin back, enough to look up her long legs and catch a glimpse of the terror etched on her face.
Crackinga smile for her benefit and to piss off anyone else who saw it, I held her gaze. “Run, Little Bird.”
Lock the door before the big bad wolf comes in.
Once, I might have thought that was me, but there were worse monsters out in the dark tonight. I could be their fodder while she made it to somewhere safe. That was all I wanted, to protect her.
Her heels clattered on the scattered gravel. A few shouts rose, but the back door to Fray slammed behind her, its click final.
Relief speared through me and sapped my remaining energy. Another blow spread pain through the back of my head, scattering shattered glass shards around the edges of my darkening vision.
I smiled, knowing she was safe as my head hit thegrit-and-filth-covered ground. Oblivion took me before any more boots could make contact with my battered ribs.
Chapter Six
Lux
Music swirled around my head in dizzying eddies that followed my sprint up the stairs to the main floor, as I did what workedfor me best—I ran. A quick glance assured me the lower level was empty, which was my preference, but I needed Rafenow.
My heels slipped on the stairs, never intended to hit anything at speed.
“Rafe!” I screamed, or tried to scream. Breath lumped in my throat, creating a void no sound passed through. My lungs heaved, overfull from panting and my sprint as it became apparent that my shoes weren’t the only things unsuited to exertion.
I slammed my hands onto the top step and stumbled onto Fray’s main floor.
The room pulsed at me, splashed in lurid pink-and-gray feathers. Music thrummed too loud as I scanned the room, but no one seemed to notice my emergency entrance.
Except for one person.
James reached my side in an instant.
His hands folded around myelbows with care, drawing me up when my knees wouldn’t work the way they should.
“Tell me.” The command, offered in a soft, even tone, cleared my head and my lungs.
I stared into deep brown eyes so dark as to reflect black against the club’s strobe. EyesI trusted.He found me.But that didn’t come out. Instead, I blurted the words I hoped would save a man I adored and trusted. “Killian is being attacked. Downstairs. Alley. Behind the—”
I stood alone.
James leapt the black painted security banister thatled to the lower levels in superhero style. Arms spread wide, he launched, his jacket swirling behind him, the moment frozen beneath Fray’s strobe for an instant before he plummeted downward.
“Downstairs?” Another hand gripped my shoulder, the touch digging in, too tight, but I didn’t care. The pain grounded me.
I nodded to Rafe. “Alley. Help him.”
Forest-green eyes held mine, shot through with yellow as he shifted. His eagle cried, piercing the party atmosphere and drawing the attention of every staffmember in the club. Wings tucked tight against a large body, he followed James’s exit. Footsteps thundered around me, and in less than a second, I was alone.
They run to him while I ran away.
