Maurice.
Th-crack!
The shelf beneath her feet gave way, breaking under the weight of her body. Dani screamed, struggling to grab something, anything, to keep her from tumbling down. But it was no use. She clung to the bookcase as best she could when suddenly, the entire thing started to topple over.
“No, no, no!” she cried out, more afraid of getting pancaked by a five-hundred-pound bookcase than getting caught by Maurice. Before her mind had time to process it, however, her body was shoved to the side, missing the crashing bookshelf by mere inches. She held her eyes shut, clenching every part of her as she stiffened for impact as the clatter of the falling wood and books crashed through the cavernous room. But her body remained upright, finally coming to a stop with her back pressed against the shelves next to the ones that had fallen. Yet despite the shelves digging into her back, the only thing she felt was warmth.
Hard, verbena-scented warmth.
Slowly, she opened her eyes, peeking in case dust and debris still fell through the air. Curled on top of her, however, was Theo. His arms and head created a protective barrier around her own, tucking her into him rather than protecting himself. He was…solid. Firm.
Delightful.
But they didn’t have time for delightful.
Theo unfurled himself from her and the two of them looked toward Maurice, now barreling toward the room. He wrenched the doorknob, but it didn’t budge. Unfortunately, it was Dani and Theo’s only way out. Maurice yelled at the top of his lungs as he slammed his body into the door, trying to bash it down. In the distance, Dani saw a library employee rushing up the stairs,yelling at Maurice in Greek, with Louis right behind them. Dani and Theo looked all around the room, trying to figure out another option, when the doorjamb started to give way. Theo slung his bag over his shoulder and then grabbed a chair, raising it above his head.
“What are you doing?” Dani said.
“Getting us the hell out of here.”
Theo threw the chair at one of the windows on the wall away from Maurice, shattering the internal window right at the same moment Maurice busted through the door. A piercing alarm reverberated throughout the building, sending the entire library to a halt.
Without a second of indecision, Theo climbed through the window and reached back to pull Dani along as Maurice rushed at them. But Dani grabbed a book and threw it at his head and then took off in the opposite direction of Maurice and Louis.
Dani glanced behind them for a second, only to see Maurice and Louis climbing atop the pile of books, screaming for them to stop.
“Don’t look back,” Theo said.
She snapped her attention toward him as they weaved through the collections, making their way down the stairs toward the exit. The other patrons had pulled out their phones and began filming, calling out to them words Dani didn’t understand. The once-quiet library was now as loud as a bustling train station with everyone gathering to see the action.
“Βο?θεια! Μας κυνηγο?ν!” Theo shouted to the onlookers. “They’re chasing us!”
People started moving out of their way, and then promptly gotinthe way of Maurice and Louis.
“Get back here!” Maurice screamed. But it was no use. Theoand Dani were already to the revolving door. As they spun through the turnstile, Dani got one more look, seeing Maurice and Louis swinging their fists at the crowd.
Once outside, they turned toward the canal.Fuck. Andreas. Where was he? Right then, Maurice came busting out of the main entrance.
“Quick, he can’t swim,” Theo said, pulling Dani toward the canal.
The narrow waterway was at least four hundred meters long. But as they approached the water and despite it being full of kayakers, they realized it was only a few feet deep. Maybe deeper toward the center. Dani looked behind them, and Maurice was closing in fast. By that point, they had no other choice. So without further delay, they ran into the water until it was deep enough to swim and then swam as fast as they could toward the opposite end. But Maurice had other plans. He ran into the water and yanked a passerby out of their kayak, then paddled quickly toward Dani and Theo. Once they could stand again, they ran through the water, but Maurice swiped at Theo’s legs with the paddle, causing him to fall with a big splash.
Maurice launched out of the boat onto Theo, pinning him under the water, trying to drown him. His arms flailed as he gasped for breath. It was like watching a film in slow motion, watching him die. But she’d thought she lost him once. She wasn’t going to lose him again.
Dani grabbed the paddle and swung it at Maurice, but he noticed just in time to release Theo and turned to catch it before impact. As Theo struggled to get away from him and recover his breath, Maurice jerked the paddle, bringing Dani to her knees in front of him. He then wrenched her wrist, and she screamed out. A revolting grin stretched across his face.
“I told your fiancé I wasn’t above hitting a woman,” Maurice said, clearly getting pleasure out of hurting her as he twisted.
But as he raised his fist, Theo called out from behind him, “And I told you to keep your fucking hands off her.”
Maurice looked up at Theo standing over him right as Theo side-kicked him in the face, instantly knocking him out. Dani stared in awe. Where had Theo learned how to do that? Maurice fell into the water face first with aker-splat, and Theo rushed over to her.
“Are you okay?” he asked, checking her for injuries.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Well, good, because Louis just came out of the building,” Theo said, helping lift Dani to her feet and then moving over to drag Maurice from the water.
