I glance around my area to see if anyone is waiting for a drink and notice Ellie with that same man from before. He’s standing quite close to her and I’m about to turn away because Ellie is good at getting rid of men but he pulls her into him.
Ellie’s back arches in a way that makes me think something must have bashed into her stomach. The guy must be drunk. Looking around, I spot Walker and wave a hand to get his attention, but he doesn’t see me. When I glance back, the man is helping Ellie into an empty booth.
Shit, is she sick? I start towards them as the man backs up, and that is when I see what is in his hand. At first it looks like a trick of the light but I got used to carrying a knife when I lived at that house. I watch in horror as he slams it into her again.
I scream as loud as I can, startling the people around me, and the man looks over at me.
I don’t think, I just react and throw my tray at his head. I’m close enough that the impact is hard, and he stumbles backward, grabbing onto whatever he can to stop himself hitting the ground.
Grabbing a bottle of beer off the nearest table I run at the man and swing it at him, clipping his chin. He thrusts the knife toward me and I use the bottle again, slamming it down on his arm. His fingers open and he drops it, yelling out in pain. Before I can hit him again, he turns and runs away.
The commotion has finally got the attention of Walker and some of the other bouncers and people are hurrying over. Leo reaches me first.
“That man, he attacked Ellie, grab him!”
“What? I just watched you assault a customer.”
“Walker!” I scream, frustrated at Leo for not listening. “Grab him!” I point at the fleeing man.
Walker doesn’t question me the way this other asshole is and I elbow my way past Leo, falling to my knees at the booth where Ellie is now slumped to the side. Her eyes open as I touch her.
“Ellie,” I reach for her trying to pull her up. “Are you okay?”
“He…” her hands drop to her waist and when the red lights above flash blue I can see the blood.
“Call 911!” I scream at Leo, who is finally fucking realizing something is wrong.
I jump up and tug the cloth off the table, bottles and glasses flying everywhere, then press it to her waist.
“You’re going to be okay, I promise,” I tell her. “Try not to move okay. An ambulance is coming.”
Behind me I can hear Leo calling for help. People still don’t know what is happening but the girls on the stage have all stopped dancing and are looking over at me. The men who work here are running around, starting to clear people away.
“Charley,” Lily comes up behind me, takes one look at Ellie and her mouth drops open.
“Don’t panic,” I tell her. “Move that chair, help me keep her upright, push here.” I take her hands and press them down on the cloth over Ellie’s wounds.
Everything I say, she does and the other girls come over and form a barricade around Ellie. She might be hard and aloof but she loves this club, and she loves the dancers. She would fight to the ends of the earth for any one of us.
The girls get the table out of the way and I move around to Ellie’s side and sit down, taking her hand, and helping Lily keep the cloth in place to try to stop the bleeding.
“Stay with me Ellie, okay, open your eyes.”
Her lids flutter but the pain is clear all over her face. She tilts her head toward me and opens her eyes, trying to speak.
“Don’t talk,” I tell her, putting my arm around her and holding her tight.
“Have… to,” she whispers, a groan following.
Even with stab wounds she is being stoic. She is one of the strongest people I’ve ever met in my life. Her elbow nudges my side as she tries to lift her arm. There is a card between her fingers. It’s covered in blood. I’ll worry about it later, but she pushes it at me.
“Tell Beast… tell him… it’s about storm.”
“Storm? What storm? Ellie, please don’t talk.”
Two men run up and move the dancers out of the way. One has a first aid bag, but they’re not paramedics. The lights go up and I notice the club has been cleared of everyone but staff and members of the MC.
Lily backs up and lets one of the men kneel down by Ellie. I lift the tablecloth, and she cries out as he touches her.
