I gripped her hand and pulled us outward, inch by inch. Slow and careful didn't matter anymore; the tower of twisted metal was coming down whether we tiptoed or sprinted. We were plunged into darkness after only a few frantic steps, both our headlamps knocked away in the chaos. The lamps could stay buried in that metal graveyard forever. Lucy couldn't.
The passage grew smaller by the second.
My chest was incredibly tight, and I didn’t think it would ever loosen again.
When we pushed out into the chilly night air, I didn’t stop pulling my Omega. I moved us far away before I turned abruptly and yanked her into my chest. The groans and cries of the collapsing tower were deafening. I seemed to last forever. When the cacophony finally died out, my mind seemed to turn up its volume and fill the void.
Lucy. Lucy. Shit, I could have lost you before I even found you.
Fuck. I can’t feel this way.
The others won’t understand.
The smell of her wrapped around me softened the choking terror still tenderizing my insides. Lucy was sunshine even at midnight. She was a wishing flower, holding hope in every white-topped stem. She was everything I didn’t know I needed, everything I shouldn’t want to keep.
This is why I stayed away.
This is why I kept to the garage and Otto’s.
Because from the moment she stepped out of that transport van, I knew it wouldn’t take much for me to fall in deep.
“I’m fucking sorry,” I growled lowly, angry with myself. She didn’t respond. Had she heard me?
DemonX had always been a lot of things—orphans, troublemakers, daredevils, Mavericks, nonconformist freaks, drunkards, and womanizers.
When had we decided that meant we also had to be cruel?
“I can’t believe you just did that,” Lucy finally murmured, face pressed against my chest. She squirmed, trying to pull away, but I only tightened my hold. I wasn’t letting her go, damn my brothers and their bullshit.
When I kept quiet, Lucy spoke again. “Kane, you can let me go. We’re okay now.”
“We’re not,” I admitted, voice thick.
Yes, we didn’t get crushed, but we weren’t okay. Everything had changed for me. There was no turning back.
“We really are safe, Kane,” she insisted. “And it’s hard to breathe like this.” Lucy managed to slip her hands between us, palms pushing into my abdomen.
It took a great deal of effort, but I dropped my arms. She took a half step back, looking up at me through pale lashes. When we locked gazes, I thought my body would collapse just like the junk pile.
“You saved me,” she spoke again, looking unsure.
“I saved you,” I agreed, turning my body to look over at the damage I’d caused. The once neat stack of busted vehicles was now scattered in every direction. One car stuck nose up out of the mess, windshield facing the starry sky. I didn’t even know where Lucy had been standing, I only knew that she’d have died.
She’d have died…because of me.
45
FALLON
{A week later}
Cirque du Sang’s resident amphitheater.
Henderson, Nevada.
The first officialCirque rehearsal was organized chaos at its finest. Aerial performers suspended from boom cranes writhed within crimson silks overhead. Technicians darted between lighting rigs, their shouts ricocheting off metal. Oversized tents dotted the field, each in different stages of erection. The distant roar of motorcycles joined oversized horn speakers pulsing with a lively, yet gothic melody. Machine oil, sweat and adrenaline thickened the air as the venue transformed before me.
Yet, my eyes could only focus on one thing.
