Why would he beat the poor guy up?
The fight seemed brutal, ruthless and unending. I covered my ears and shut my eyes, but I could still hear things, objects and bodies being smashed. How long would they fight? Why didn’t it end?
How long could they continue in this manner?
Then, finally, the fighting stopped.
I lifted my head and listened, trying to hear over the pounding of my heart. For a long moment, I heard nothing but silence.
And then movement, and then the sound of footsteps crunching on broken glass.
Something heavy was being moved or shoved aside.
I winced, terrified of how pissed Sergei would be.
Would he take it out on me?
The door rattled, and then it opened.
The light went on, momentarily blinding me, and then I saw a figure standing in the doorway.
Axel.
Oh my god. I stared at him in disbelief, convinced I was hallucinating. But in that moment, I didn’t care.
His voice was hoarse. “Are you hurt?”
It was his voice. I froze, taking all of him in. His hair was messy, and he looked incredibly beat up. Blood was sprayed across his face and clothes and smeared on his hands.
I struggled to speak. “Are you for real?”
He moved with fluid grace to kneel down beside me. “I’m real.” Without any concern for how his own face was bleeding, he focused entirely on me. “Are you injured?”
I couldn’t seem to grasp my reality. “No.”
“Did he hurt you?”
I lifted my hand to his face, starting to grasp that he was actually there in front of me. I couldn’t seem to make sense of what just happened. “You’re the pizza guy?”
He was touching my head, my neck, my shoulders in a very official, medical way. “Are you hurt?”
“He put a needle in my neck. I only woke up a few hours ago.”
He noticed that I was handcuffed. “Hang on.”
He disappeared from the bathroom before I could protest.
“Axel?” My voice sounded pitiful. Through the doorway, I could see a busted, flickering lamp, an overturned table, and what seemed to be an insane amount of feathers floating in the air.
He reappeared and knelt next to me again. This time he had a key in his hand.
He unlocked my wrist, and the second I realized I was free, I flew into his arms.
I cried out with joy when his big arms came around me, crushing me to him in a tight hug.
“You came.” My voice was muffled against his neck.
“I did.”
