Before I could think, before I could freeze again, I reached inside my pocket and pulled out the switchblade Raven had pressed into my hand days ago. “A girl’s gotta be able to protect herself,” she’d said as she pressed the shimmery red metal into my palm.
I threw myself forward and wrapped my legs around the man with his back to me, squeezing as hard as I could to make sure I wouldn’t fall. He shouted, staggering all over the place as he tried to shake me off.
“No!” I screamed, over and over, each time it was punctuated by plunging the blade into the side of his face and neck. It didn’t matter to me where the blade stuck, as long as it did. Cheek. Jaw. Neck. I didn’t think and I didn’t hesitate, I just kept moving.
The man dropped to his knees and I went down with him, still stabbing him. Still screaming until my throat was raw. Years of rage poured out of me, the helplessness, the fear, the nights I’d stayed silent while pain was done to me at my parents’ house. In foster care. Every man I’d ever attempted to give my heart to.
Inside that fucking room with Diego.
It all rushed out of me with his blood. Thick and red and oozing.
“Macy, baby.” Drew’s voice cut through it, soft but urgent. “Come on. Stop it.”
I heard him, but I couldn’t stop.
“Macy,” he said louder. “He’s gone, sweetheart. Dead.”
That did it.
I froze and then I looked down.
What had been a face, was now barely recognizable, just a pile of bloody flesh with eyeballs staring back at me.Notstaring because they were lifeless, but still. “Oh shit.” My body began trembling.
Drew’s arms wrapped around me, strong and sure as he lifted me away from the body. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Let’s get out of here.”
I nodded numbly as he guided me to the bike, hands shaking as he slid the helmet onto my head. I climbed on behind him, clinging tight.
Inside that helmet, I broke. I cried hard, ugly sobs that wracked my body but after a few miles I realized I wasn’t crying for that man, but for the years it had taken me to—finally—fight back.
I should have done that shit sooner.
I clicked the button on the side to activate the headset. “I’m sorry, Drew.”
“Don’t be,” he shot back right away. “Asshole deserved it.”
“No,” I said, my voice breaking. “I’m sorry you got hurt while I just stood there doing nothing. I wanted to help, but I couldn’t. I was frozen. Like always.”
There was a long silence between us before I heard his gruff words. “It’s all right,” he said. “You came through when I needed you. And I wasn’t all that hurt, those guys hit like grannies.”
A wet laugh escaped me. “Still. I’m sorry.”
***
When we pulled into the clubhouse lot, he shut off the engine and waited for me to get off the bike. He removed my helmet and forced my gaze to meet his. “You’re fucking amazing, babe,” he said softly. “Thank you for helping me.”
I managed a small smile at those words. “I like helping you, Drew.”
He kissed me and it was soft and wet and heart melting. I leaned into his touch and savored his taste, moaning as he deepened the kiss. “Fuck,” he groaned when our lips separated. “Come on, let’s get that fucker’s blood off you.”
I smiled and took his hand, letting him guide me inside where, for the first time, I didn’t feel helpless.
I felt powerful.
Dangerous.
I felt useful.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
