In Foundation or the Blue Note, my appearance helps me to blend in. Here, it’s a flashing neon sign that screams I’m an outsider and a threat.
Another car rolls past, slowing as it approaches me before accelerating away. The driver doesn’t bother hiding their scrutiny, phone already in hand, perhaps calling neighborhood security to report my presence.
I don’t have much time before someone comes toescort me out of this manicured paradise. If I’m going to speak to Gabriel, it needs to be now.
With one final deep breath, I step away from my motorcycle. My heart pounds harder the closer I get to the house, my legs shaking.
What if he refuses to open the door? In this fancy neighborhood, I can’t camp out on his doorstep and wait for him to come out on his own. I’ll get arrested.
I raise my hand to the door, pulse hammering as the blood rushes to my head. The world goes fuzzy around the edges, whether from nerves or the lack of food for the past three days, I can’t tell. My knuckles hover an inch from the sleek gray surface, close enough to feel the cool air radiating from the metal.
For a second, I consider turning back, running to my bike, and disappearing into the night as I’ve done so many times before.
But I won’t. Not this time.
My knock echoes in the quiet night air, and I cringe, only noticing the doorbell after the fact.
No response comes from inside, but a shadow passes behind the frosted glass panel beside the door. He’s there, watching, deciding whether to acknowledge me.
My mouth goes dry as seconds stretch into a minute. The night air bites at my exposed skin, and Ishove my hands into my jacket to stop from knocking again.
The lock clicks, metal sliding against metal, and I suck in a shaky breath.
The door opens a crack at first, then wider as Gabriel appears in the gap. The faded T-shirt he wears hangs loosely on his frame, and his hair is flat on one side like he’s been lying down.
Shock registers as he sees me standing on the doorstep. “Saint? How did you— What are you doing here?”
I swallow, trying to find the words I rehearsed on the ride over, but my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth, and all I manage is, “I needed to see you.”
Gabriel’s grip tightens on the door, his knuckles whitening. “How did you find me?”
“Does it matter?” I pull the envelope from my pocket, holding it between us. “I came to give this back. I didn’t open it.”
His focus shifts to the envelope, and hesitation gives way to relief. Before he can respond, though, his attention jumps to a point over my shoulder, and his entire body tenses.
The door swings open as he lunges forward, one hand reaching for me. “Get down!”
Too late, I feel the vibration of footsteps racing upthe concrete steps behind me. My instincts scream to duck, to turn, to fight, but my body moves too slowly, sluggish with exhaustion and the shock of Gabriel’s reaction.
A hard object shoves against the small of my back. A gun? A knife?
Gabriel grabs for me, dragging me toward the door. His mouth moves, but I can’t hear it past Jade’s warning detonating in my head.
Watch your back better.
I should have fucking listened.
Twin metal prongs pierce through my jacket and shirt, and the first jolt hits like a hammer to the spine, electricity arcing through every nerve ending at once. My muscles seize, locking rigidly as fire races along my veins. The envelope falls from my fingers, floating to the ground in slow motion.
I can’t breathe, can’t scream, can’t move.
Gabriel’s hand closes around my wrist as I fall, my body out of my control. And then he’s jerking, too, as a second taser takes him in the chest.
Another shock slams through me, worse than the first. My teeth clench so hard that blood fills my mouth from where I bit my tongue. The coppery flavor floods my mouth as my vision fractures into pieces, reality splintering around the edges.
Darkness closes in from the sides, my field of vision narrowing to a tunnel. Through it, I see Gabriel on the ground, lying inside the townhouse, his back arched and teeth clenched in pain.
I failed to watch my back.
