I wince at the raucous echoes.
There’s no way that mandidn’thear me.
Still, no one responds, so I press forward. “Please? I wouldn’t ask if?—”
A callused palm wraps around my mouth.
The basic training offered twice annually to eligible women of marital age comes rushing back, and I slam my elbow backward, aiming for my attacker’s solar plexus.
Although a whoosh of air escapes his lips, the hand around my mouth doesn’t relent.
Before he can catch his breath, I raise my heel, preparing to stompon his sandaled foot, but the stiff muscles in my leg slow me down.
A second arm wraps around my waist, lifting me off the ground entirely. Warm breath scalds my ear in warning.
“Do you have a death wish?”
CHAPTER FOUR
Though he’d spokenno more than six words, I immediately recognize the gravelly voice and subtle scent of smoky bergamot. And against my better judgement, I relax a little.
“No,” I try to mumble against his palm.
The man huffs a bemused breath, like he’s unconvinced, then asks, “If I put you down, do you promise to stop screaming?”
His grip on my mouth loosens enough for me to answer. “Sure, but only if you promise to help me.”
“Help you how?” He lowers his hand from my face, but instead of setting me down, readjusts his free arm to brace across my shoulders.
“My friend, Gem. She was hit by the falling rubble. Her pulse is steady, but she’s bleeding and non-responsive. I need to get her to someone that can help, and I’m not strong enough to carry her on my own.” The admission has me biting the inside of my lip.
“I can’t—” he starts.
“Please. I’ll owe you a favor.” Desperation heightens my pitch. “Anything you need.”
Offering an open-ended favor is a gamble, but there are two thingsI’ve gleaned about this man: he’s clearly up to something, yet he was good-natured enough to give me an unprompted hand with that boulder. Plus, little does he know I have an impending expiration on my time as a human. He won’t have long to cash in that favor.
The scruff along his jaw brushes against the side of my head as he asks, “Anything? No conditions? No questions?”
“Anything,” I agree, praying to the shadows that I’ve gambled correctly.
He releases me instantly.
I stumble a little, unprepared to bear weight again on my limp legs. Once I stabilize, I return to Gem with the stranger in tow. He frowns when he sees her lying in the puddle of blood, then delicately slips a hand beneath her neck.
I lower into a shaky squat. “You get her head. I’ll get her legs.”
Lifting a single angular brow, he blinks pointedly at me before bracing his other hand beneath Gem’s knee and raising her off the ground. I catch her torn satchel as it slips off, frowning at the unexpected heaviness of it.
The man readjusts his grip on Gem, cradling her in one arm while lifting the other in offering. “I’ll take it.”
“You sure?”
He responds by grabbing the strap and tugging it onto his shoulder with a scowl.
“Is it too heavy?”
“Not for me,” he says.
