I would kill for you. – Elias
Elias
The place reeked of bleach and piss.
I moved through the narrow hallway of the abandoned dental clinic, every nerve on fire, each step counting down in my head. Left turn. Door. Then—
“Hold it right there.” A voice—low, smug—cut through the dark.
I froze.
From the half-open door at the end of the hallway, a man stepped out. Gun cocked, smile wide. And behind him, I saw her.
Liana.
Tied to a radiator. Knees drawn to her chest. Barely conscious. Eyes blinking slow like she was trying to wake from a nightmare that didn’t end.
“Let her go,” I said, stepping forward.
Another man appeared from inside the room, grabbing her arm, jerking her up like a puppet. She cried out.
“Don’t,” I snapped, voice sharp, deadly still. “Don’t touch her.”
The one holding her laughed. “Oh, so she’s special, huh? That why you came alone? You like your women small and helpless?”
He leaned closer to her. “She your favorite flavor? You ever wonder if she screams in bed like she does when you’re not around?”
Liana flinched.
That was it.
I drew in one last breath.
And said, voice flat and final:
“Let her go right now. That’s your only chance.”
They didn’t.
I dropped the gun. I didn’t need it.
I lunged.
The first man tried to raise his weapon—I broke his wrist in one twist, slammed his head into the wall so hard the drywall cracked.
The second didn’t even get a sound out before I tackled him to the ground.
My fist connected with his jaw, once, twice, again. Blood splattered. His nose shattered.
He gurgled something I didn’t hear because my heart was beating like war drums inside my skull.
They put hands on her.
They touched her.
They talked about her.
I wasn’t stopping.
Until—
“WOLFE!” Brooks’ voice roared from behind me.
Arms grabbed mine. I shoved him off. He grabbed again, holding tight this time. “You’re going to kill him—he’s done. You got her. You got her.”
I blinked down.
The guy wasn’t even fighting anymore. Barely breathing.
My knuckles were torn open. Covered in blood that wasn’t mine.
She’s still tied up, so I let go.
Liana
I saw all of it.
Every hit. Every crack of bone. Every time Elias’s fist came down, and didn’t stop.
I should’ve been afraid.
But all I did was cry.
Not because of what he did.
Because of why.
He came for me.
He saw me.
And he would’ve burned the world down to get me back.
He turned at last, breath ragged, eyes wild.
When he saw me, he dropped to his knees in front of me.
“I’m sorry,” he said, voice breaking. “I’m sorry I wasn’t faster.”
He pulled me into his arms, and I collapsed against him like I belonged there.
“They’re not touching you,” he whispered into my hair. “Not ever again.”
