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Sid reaches down and wraps his hand around the handle of the blade. He looks up at me and the smirk plastered to his face fills me with a mix of hatred and horror. Everything in me is pushing me to run to him, to stop him from what he’s about to do. Only the look in Kain’s eyes keeps me rooted in place.
The thunder of approaching engines cuts the silence, echoing off the surrounding buildings and growing louder with each passing second.
“Shit,” Sid grates out through clenched teeth, tearing the blade from Kain’s stomach violently and drops to the ground beside him. “Grab the girl, and let’s go.”
New headlights illuminate the area, and Sid’s men all take a step back.
“Leave her, we’ll get her next time,” Sid shouts over the roar of motorcycles surrounding Kain’s overturned SUV. They pile back into their cars and take off.
I race to Kain’s side and kneel beside him, covering the opening in his stomach with my hands and pressing down. His eyes are shut, and blood pools around him. I touch his cheek, flinching at how cold he is. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”
A man approaches. He reminds me a lot of Xavion with his dark complexion and large eyes, but with a teardrop tattoo under the outside corners of both eyes.
“Hey, chica, what happened here?” he asks, getting closer.
Frantically, I look around for anything I can use as a weapon. A glint of light under Kain’s hip catches my eye. I pull the gun out from beneath him and point it at the approaching man.
“Stop,” I say quickly and a little too wobbly.
The man throws up his hands. “Hey, it’s okay. I’m a friend. My name is Darnell, and Kain there is a friend of mine.”
“I can’t know that. How do I know you’re telling the truth?” My mind goes fuzzy, and the world starts to tilt. My arm holding up my hand with the gun grows heavier until it starts to give, but I hold steady and force it to stay up. I have to protect Kain.
“I’m going to slide you my phone. Call Lucifer. He’ll tell you that you can trust me.” Darnell crouches down and slides a phone across the lot. Already lit up on the screen is Lucifer’s name and his phone number.
Without picking it up, I quickly hit the call symbol and tap the speaker button.
The phone rings—once, twice—and doubt fills my mind.
What if he doesn’t answer? What do I do then?
Do I trust this man I don’t know? How do I get Kain help?
I stare down at Kain, his ghostly white complexation, the bright red stain growing on his white shirt under my bloody fingers. A soft click echoes from the speaker of the phone. Lucifer’s voice crackles down the line and I nearly fall apart in relief.
“Darnell, what’s going on?”
“Lucifer,” I cry. “Kain—” I swallow, trying to regain my composure.
“Eden? What are you doing with Darnell’s phone? Where’s Kain?”
I cough and start again. “We were on our way back, but Donovan’s men caused us to crash. Kain was stabbed, he’s hurt bad. Darnell scared them off, and he’s here now, but I don’t know them, he told me to call you.”
“You can trust him,” he says. “I’ll call Wyatt and get him here. Let me talk to Darnell.”
“I can hear you, man,” Darnell says, having walked closer while I was distracted.
“Bring them to me.” Lucifer’s voice breaks, and a long pause crackles along the open line. “Please.”
“We’re on our way.” Darnell bends down and picks up the phone, and I lower the gun, almost dropping it.
“Boss, get up here,” Darnell shouts, and an older man with a salt and pepper beard on a bike with a sidecar pulls up close to where we are. Darnell slides his hands under Kain’s shoulders and knees, scooping him up like he weighs nothing at all and carries him over to the sidecar, carefully placing him inside of it. He takes off his jacket and ties it around Kain’s middle, stemming some of the bleeding.
I’m still sitting in the same position when he walks back over, my body trying to shut down, and my mind trying to throw up walls to block out the trauma.
Strong hands grab me by my biceps and haul me to my feet. “Not yet, chica. We need to get your man home quickly, and I need you to stay present so you can ride with me. Understand?”
I nod and walk towards the only vacant bike, assuming it’s his.
