Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 76953 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
He sounded closer.
Or was his voice just echoing against the buildings?
“I love when they make you chase them,” another voice curled, his voice as slimy as his words. I felt like the ick of it slicked my skin. I wanted a shower. And a can of mace.
“Come on, guys,” another voice called. “Leave her alone.”
Finally, a voice of reason.
The problem?
While he found the nerve to stand up to his buddies, he sounded much further away. Like he hung back while his buddies charged forward to follow me.
“Shut up, Cyrus. We’re just having some fun.”
That sounded close. Really, really close.
My chest tightened as I resisted the urge to break into a run.
Because I knew my aunts were right.
These were predators.
And if the prey ran, their instincts kicked in.
I sucked in a strangled breath and glanced sideways as I passed a darkened storefront that reflected not only me back, but the three men pursuing me.
They were closer than I would like but not as close as I feared.
It was okay.
The bend was just up ahead.
I would be on a slightly less isolated area.
I wasn’t under the delusion that anyone would come to my rescue. But it gave me places to go. Buildings to dip into. People to put between us.
I didn’t need a rescue; I just needed—
“God, just fucking grab her!”
Suddenly, all my training flew out of my mind as my reptilian brain took over.
I tripped into a run. Full tilt.
Inwardly, I thanked my aunts and my cousins and everyone else in my inner circle who insisted on how important training was. Cardio training, strength training, taking care of your body so it could work with you and for you as you needed it to.
So my lungs didn’t scream.
My thighs didn’t object.
Not even as I flew down the main drag, ignoring the curious glances of people I passed. Not even as I rushed down a side street to shorten my path toward my car.
“You go that way,” I heard one of the men shout.
Shit.
They were breaking apart to try to get me from multiple angles.
I yanked my bag off my shoulder, digging blindly around for my phone.
Until the memory flashed across my mind.
My phone falling out of my hand as I put the liquor in the trunk of my car.
Then slamming the lid without grabbing it.
Damnit.
I had to get back to the main drag even if it was further from my car.
This was where the home field advantage came into play. No one knew the ins and outs of this town as well as my cousins and I did. We’d endlessly roamed these streets as teenagers. We knew every back alley, every cut-through in the woods.
I ran down the alley behind a Chinese restaurant, knowing that at the other end, there was a small gap in the gate that I was (hopefully) still small enough to slip through.
And that would put me right back on the main street. Close to Redemption, actually. As much as I didn’t want to run in there, breathless and panicked, and have everyone make a huge deal out of this, it was an option.
I was just up to the gate when I heard footsteps slapping the ground behind me.
My heartbeat doubled as I said a prayer and pushed my body into the gap.
Okay.
Yeah.
It definitely pinched a little tighter than it had when I was sixteen. The old metal scraped against my chest. The brick wall scratched across my ass.
But when I sucked in a deep breath, I managed to wedge myself through just as a hand grabbed at my wrist.
I yanked free and ran, not wanting to risk the guy also fitting through the gate. I needed every second of advantage I had.
I ran to the corner and chanced one look back.
When I ran right into a brick wall.
Well, it might as well have been.
He was as big and tall and firm as one.
My air was knocked from my chest.
“Oh!” I yelped a second before panic set in.
Was it one of the guys?
A hand went around me, making me violently yank back. Then immediately stumbled.
“Hey, what’s up?” a familiar voice asked as the hand grabbed my wrist to keep me from falling on my ass.
Even as my mind placed the voice, my head angled up.
And there he was.
Perish.
The way relief washed through me made tears prick my eyes.
I tried to rapidly blink them away, but Perish was watching me too closely. He saw them.
“What happened?” he asked, his voice rough even as his hand pulled me closer.
“It’s nothing,” I insisted.
“You’re out of breath.”
“It was just some stupid drunk guys,” I said, trying to wave it off. But the words only made Perish get even tenser.
“Where?” he growled.
“I think I lost them.”
“What did they look like?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“It matters. Gonna knock their fucking brains out their ears.”
He would, too.