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Shit.
ChapterTwenty-Five
“Can I help you?” I asked.
The man looked me up and down slowly as he stepped closer—too close for my comfort.
“You can’t,” he slurred. His breath hit me like a slap across the face, dripping with the scent of alcohol. “But your little boyfriend can.”
Alarms rang in my mind. I had to get out of here fast, especially if this was one of the demons Alek mentioned on the Ferris wheel. What had he called it? A turf war?
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I retorted. I glanced around, but there were so many people everywhere. I had nowhere to run. Nowhere to go.
“It seems like you know exactly what I’m talking about,” the man pushed. “Especially considering he’s been flaunting you around here all night like his new piece of eye candy.” His eyes flickered down my body again.
Every instinct I had told me to run. If I could just distract him long enough, I could find a way to get over to Alek.
Where the hell was he?
“Look,” I started, “whoever you think you are, whatever you think you’re doing, you’ve got the wrong person.”
“I don’t think so, honey,” the man chuckled darkly. He took a step closer to me. I took a step back. “I think you should come with me. I’m sure your boyfriend will come find you once he notices you’re gone.”
He took one more step in my direction.
I turned and bolted.
I ran as fast as I could into the crowd, into the swarm of people who wouldn’t help me. I had always assumed I was a decently tall girl, but I couldn't see a damn thing. I resorted to pushing and shoving bodies as I made my way aimlessly through the masses.
The man followed tightly behind me. I ducked and weaved through small spaces as much as I could, which only managed to slightly slow him down. We crossed over the entire center crowd of the carnival until I reached the other side.
I was trapped. A gate lined the entire back path behind the food vendors.
The man caught up with me in an instant, grabbing tightly onto my arm. A small scream escaped me. “Let go!” I yelled.
“I don’t think so,” he growled. “You might be just the leverage we need to—”
“Get away from her!” Alek’s voice boomed through the crowd. I flinched away as he turned around, only to find Alek standing behind him.
If I thought he looked pissed off before, I was sorely mistaken. Alek practically smoked with anger as he grabbed the man by the throat.
He was taller than the stranger. Stronger, too. I watched in horror as he punched the man directly in the face. The impact resulted in a sickening crack, and he fell to the ground.
But Alek didn’t stop there. He jumped on top of him, cascading punches on his face one after the other. Someone in the crowd was screaming. It took me a few seconds to realize it was me.
Alek kept going, punch after punch until Zac appeared, pulling Alek away from the pummeled man.
“What the hell is going on?” Zac yelled. Natalie ran to my side, asking the same question.
“He had Lyra,” Alek said. “He was… he was going to…”
A few of the other Night Ravens approached. Two of them grabbed the stranger by both arms and hauled him to his feet. His head hung backward, clearly unconscious.
Natalie gasped beside me, her hand covering her mouth in shock.
“We’ll take it from here,” one of the Night Ravens said to Alek. They began dragging the man away, getting lost back into the crowd we had just come running from. “Nothing to see here, folks,” he announced to the small crowd that gathered around the spectacle. “We’ve taken care of the situation.” After a few seconds, the bystanders began to lose interest, returning to the carnival.
I could feel my heartbeat in my throat. “What was that?” Natalie asked me.
