Once again moving on instinct, I roll away from him, and the sole of his shoe brushes against my hair as he misses me by only a few inches.
He lets out an angry-sounding growl when his kick doesn’t land. The momentum from the move causes him to stumble, and he’s thrown forward as his foot keeps going since there’s nothing to stop it now that my head isn’t in the way.
He lands on the ground with a solidthump, and I once again push myself up on my hands and knees. It takes a few attempts, but I manage to scramble to my feet and take off down the side of the building before my attacker has the chance to get up.
I’m moving on adrenaline and instinct at this point, and my only thought is that I need to get out from behind the building and out in the open. My injured side is slowing me down, and it doesn’t help that my throat, chest, and lungs are tight and aching as I struggle to breathe normally again.
I have no idea how I’m able to move so fast, considering everything that just happened, but I don’t stop to question it as I race toward the front of the building and the lighted footpaths surrounding it. I don’t know why I think my attacker is like a vampire who’ll suddenly leave me alone if he’s exposed to light, but there might be witnesses around, and hopefully the cameras I know are out there will be enough to dissuade him.
I’m almost at the edge of the building when he catches up to me, and instead of grabbing me like last time, he slams his hands into my back and gives me a hard shove. I stumble and fall to the ground for the second time, landing on my hands and knees with half of my body beyond the edge of the building and the rest of me still shrouded in shadows. Pain radiates up my arms, but I instinctively donkey kick behind me, putting as muchforce behind the move as I can. Miraculously, my foot connects with something solid and squishy, and I quickly lash out again, hoping to deliver a second kick to whatever I hit.
My attacker lets out a loud grunt at the first impact, but he grabs my leg before my second can land and wrenches it to the side. My knee lights up with pain as it twists beyond its natural stretch point, but I push through it and yank my leg free of his grip, crying out as more pain explodes in my knee from the sudden move.
Before I can even attempt to get up again, two hands grab the back of my jacket and haul me back to my feet like I weigh nothing. Whoever is attacking me isn’t that much bigger than me, but his strength is impressive, and I barely have enough time to shield my face with my arms as he throws me against the building.
I hit it hard, and my temple glances off the rough bricks. The impact isn’t enough to knock me out, but it leaves me stunned, and that’s enough for my attacker to flip me around and pin me against the wall.
My eyes widen with shock when I’m finally able to see his face. Or at least I would be able to see his face if the fitted black mask he has on didn’t obscure his features from view. The only part of him I can see is his eyes, but I can’t make out the color or any details beyond their general shape in the dim light.
With another of those angry-sounding growls, he once again presses his arm against my throat and uses his body to pin me against the wall. This time, he keeps his hips pressed against mine so I can’t get my leg between us again, and all I can do is grab at his arm and ineffectually try to yank it from my throat as the world goes hazy around the edges and static explodes in my vision from lack of oxygen.
I’m so out of it I can’t really see what he’s doing through the silver and black dots dancing in my vision, but I catch a glimpseof something shiny and metallic in his free hand as it glints under overhead lights.
11
DAMON
“Hey!”a high, feminine voice cries. “Stop.”
I swing my gaze toward the voice, and the interruption seems to startle my attacker enough that he releases some of the pressure on my throat. My vision clears as a small figure steps off the footpath in front of the building and races toward us, one hand in her purse and a long braid swinging behind her.
“Let him go,” she cries, skidding to a stop a dozen feet away.
Now that I can see, and think again, I nearly do a double take when I recognize her, and I almost swallow my tongue when she raises a silver gun and levels it at me.
My attacker freezes, and we both stand there like statues as she glares at us menacingly. Her hand is steady as she keeps her gun trained on us, and some of my panic disappears as I realize she’s aiming it at my attacker and not me.
“Get the fuck out of here before I do some target practice with your ass,” she says, her voice equal parts firm and shrill. “Go!”
My attacker hesitates, but another sharp command from her is enough to make him step back and take off into the shadows as he races back down the way we came.
The loss of the threat is enough to make all the adrenaline bleed out of me in a rush, and my legs give out as I’m hit with a wave of dizziness that makes more static dance in front of my eyes. My hands grab at the wall behind me as I try to stay on my feet, but they slip over the rough bricks as I slide down it and land on my ass like a balloon being deflated.
“Are you okay?” Eden asks as she rushes over to me, her gun lowered but still at the ready.
“Not sure,” I mutter dazedly and let my head fall back against the wall as she kneels next to me.
“Are you the good guy here?” she asks warily. “Or did I just save the bad guy and now I’m going to regret it?”
“I’m not the bad guy,” I tell her, my voice rough and a bit raspy, like I just tried to swallow sand. “But feel free to keep that gun trained on me until you’re sure.”
The world around me is starting to look clear again, and it doesn’t feel like the planet is tilting on its axis anymore, but I still feel weird and off-kilter. It almost feels like I’m out of sync with reality and everything is moving a few seconds faster than me.
Eden studies me for a few beats, her gaze shrewd, then nods like she’s finishing a silent conversation with herself and tucks her gun back into her purse.
We’ve never spoken, and she’s a few years younger than me, but Eden has a similar reputation around school as I do. We’re both loner weirdos who didn’t grow up in this world, and because of that, we’re outcasts.
The big difference between us is that I still have some acceptance around here because of my father and my position in the Keepers. Eden’s older stepbrother is one of the leaders of the Rebels, but Jordan uses his position to isolate her, and there’s a standing order around campus for every guy to leave her the fuck alone if they don’t want to deal with him.
