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Already, Kiana was slowing. Dev had to think quickly.
They ducked around the back of a small apartment building to an alley with stairs leading up to individual balconies. The wrought iron on one of the balconies had been filled in with a trellis and leafy green ivy, effectively blocking the balcony from the view of passersby.
With no time to spare, Dev grabbed Kiana’s hand and raced up the stairs and behind the curtain of ivy. “Duck,” he whispered.
Kiana dropped to her haunches, her chest heaving with each ragged breath.
Dev parted a large ivy leaf and stared down at the alley below.
Three men rounded the corner, running fast. They blew through the back alley, passing the apartment building and the trellised balcony where Kiana and Dev hid behind the ivy.
When Kiana started to rise, Dev touched a hand to her back. “Wait.”
She lowered to her knees.
A minute later, the three men trotted back through the alley and turned in a different direction.
This time, Kiana didn’t try to get up. She stayed where she was.
Dev was fine with staying there for another fifteen or twenty minutes, however long it took to ensure the men had moved on.
A cat climbed the stairs and sniffed at Kiana’s hand. After a while, it let her scratch behind its ear, purring loudly. When she stopped scratching, the cat inspected Dev and let him smooth a hand over the cat’s soft fur.
A sound in the alley made Dev stiffen. He carefully pulled aside a leaf and peered down to find two of the men walking back through the alley.
The cat chose that moment to meow in protest for Dev having stopped petting the beast before he was ready.
The two men looked up at the balcony.
Dev held his breath.
The cat, having a mind of his own, leaped up onto the bistro table behind Dev.
The two men jumped, their eyes wide.
The taller guy laughed. “It’s a goddamn cat.”
“What, are you afraid of cats?”
“Hell no,” the tall guy said. “Are you? I saw you jump just like me. I don’t much like cats. They’re creepy.”
The other man snickered. “Want me to kill it for you?”
“If you can catch it.” The men stared up at the cat.
“Here, kitty, kitty,” the short guy called out.
Dev tensed.
The cat didn’t move. He wasn’t interested in the men down below, being perfectly content on his perch.
The two men started toward the balcony.
Dev bunched his muscles, ready to spring should the men spot him and Kiana.
“Hey, assholes,” a gravelly voice shouted below. “They’re gone. Let’s get out of here.”
The shorter guy touched a finger to his temple in salute toward the balcony. “It’s your lucky day, cat.”
