A fist came down from above, headed straight for my face. Luckily, I was ready enough this time to prepare myself, falling backward just in time to take a glancing hit instead of a direct blow. The guy stumbled forward, and I leapt back to my feet, my fists flying up in the defensive position.
“Justin Frisk sends his greetings,” the man growled, regaining his posture. “And his congratulations. No one else had managed to steal from Mr. Frisk and stay hidden for as long as you have.”
“I didn’t steal from him,” I said, spitting the words his way. I knew it didn’t matter, but I still couldn’t resist defending myself.
The man didn’t bother to respond. Instead, he came lunging back at me, both of his fists flying at once. I realized he must have spent that hour watching the way I moved my body because he sent his left hook straight for my weak spot, forcing me to put my weight on my bad knee.
I took one blow to the chest and stumbled against the bar, the pain thudding against my ribs. Before the man could recover, I lunged forward, landing a series of blows that sent him scrambling, a table flying against the wall from our collision.
“Fuck you,” he growled, wiping some blood away from his mouth. “No one breaks my lip.”
“Arrrrghhhh!”
Lilith’s voice cut through the bar, erupting louder than I could have believed possible. The man startled from the surprise of it, and before he could recover, Lilith darted in with a series of hard blows, straight to his face.
I didn’t have time to think, just to act. The man was immobilized and knocked off his feet, and I grabbed him by the suit jacket to bum-rush him toward the door. He was sputtering and coughing, and he kept trying to knock me off balance, but my adrenaline was firing at full power. With a roar of my own, I kicked the door open and threw his hulking figure straight onto the street.
And standing in that doorway, I watched, horrified, as his body crashed into Ezra and Irving.
I caught a direct look at their stunned faces as they flew backward, landing with a sickening thud against the pavement. Ezra’s glasses shot off his face, skidding across the sidewalk, and I saw Irving’s cheek take a direct blow from the ground. The man stumbled past them, colliding into a tree before he collapsed himself.
My heart froze in my chest, and I had to grab the doorway to steady myself. Ezra pushed himself up on his hands, and I caught a look of the scrape across his face. I was certain they would both have bruises and more to show for the collision tomorrow.
And as though no time had passed at all, Charlie came back to mind.
Beaten, bleeding, and bruised, I saw his face, and the guilt of it almost swallowed me whole.
“Get the hell out of here,” Lilith ordered, holding her phone up and pointing at the man. “I’m calling the police.”
Before she could even finish dialing, he was running down the block, tumbling into his car and speeding away. Lilith jumped forward to help Ezra to his feet, and I offered my hand to Irving, surprised to see my whole arm trembling.
But still, all I could think about was Charlie.
My mind was reeling. It made no sense, but I was overcome with a wave of anger toward Ezra and Irving, a feeling that they had somehow brought this on me, the same way Charlie had stolen from the fight and started this whole mess.
But no, that didn’t make any sense. Ezra and Irving must have only been walking by.
My head throbbed, a sense of panic rising in my gut. I needed to get out of there, and away from these two guys before they ended up even bloodier than they already were.
“What the hell,” Ezra said, dabbing his shirt against the cut on his face. “What just happened?”
Irving accepted my hand. When he got to his feet, he went straight over to Ezra. “Yeah,” he said. “What just happened?”
Ezra, Irving, and Lilith all turned to look at me. Their faces were covered with questions, confusion, and concern.
“Get away,” I said, waving my hand at them and taking a few steps backward. The air was getting sucked out of me, and more than anything else, I needed space.
“What the fuck,” Ezra muttered. “Are you okay, dude?”
I stumbled back a few more steps. “You just have to get away,” I said. “You just have to stay away from me, do you understand? I’m not safe for you.”
None of them understood. It was just the same here as it was in Philadelphia. It didn’t matter how far I ran—my past was always a few steps behind me, grabbing at my heels and ready to scorch anyone by my side. There was always going to be another man after me, and I was always going to have to be a fighter to stay alive.
They said more after that, but I didn’t hear it. I didn’t hear what Lilith called after me, and I didn’t bother to think about the mess I had left in the bar. I just needed to get away, and so that’s what I did.
I ran to my truck, I turned the ignition, and I drove.
