“You’re swaying,” I tell her.
“I’m leaning.”
Tessa makes a strangled sound that might be fear trying to turn into anger. “Okay, yeah, we’re done pretending this is fine. Liv, you look like hell.”
“Thanks,” Olivia mutters.
“I mean it lovingly.”
Mia steps closer. “We should call an ambulance.”
“No,” Olivia and I say at the same time.
Tessa looks between us. “That wasn’t creepy at all.”
Olivia closes her eyes briefly, and I feel her weight shift heavier against me.
Enough.
I stand. No warning. No discussion. I slide one arm beneath her knees, the other around her back, and lift her against my chest.
She gasps, then grabs my shirt with both hands. “Cobra—”
“You’re done walking.”
“I can walk.”
“No.”
Tessa looks like she’s about to argue on Olivia’s behalf until Olivia’s face goes pale from the motion. Her hands tighten in my shirt, and she swallows hard. That pushes me closer to the edge.
Head injury.
She’s dizzy. Nauseous. Trying to hide it. Trying to keep her friend and sister calm while the men who grabbed her disappear into the night in a van we don’t have eyes on yet.
I need to move. I need information. I need to tear something apart. Instead, I hold her. Careful. Controlled. Not tight.
Her head tips against my shoulder for one second before she catches herself. “I’m okay.”
I look down at her. I pull my phone out with one hand, keeping her balanced against me like she weighs nothing, like the world didn’t just try to take her from me again.
Blaze answers on the second ring. “Tell me you’re not dragging me out,” he says. “Olivia get you dancing and now your legs are fucking dead and can’t take the bike home.”
“Bring a cage.”
Silence.
All the humor drops.
“What happened?”
“Now.”
His voice changes completely. “Yeah. Got it. I’m on it.”
“Two.”
Another beat.
