Page 184 of Lyric & the Heartbeats

Henry touched her cheek gently, wiping a smudge off, before his gaze hardened to stone and dipped to her neck. He pulled out his phone.

“Are you okay?” Nohen asked. He framed her face with his hands, smudging over the same spot Henry had.

“What happened? Did you kick their asses?” Desi questioned.

“I kicked one of them between the legs. Pretty hard too.”

Lyric recounted the quick story, her gaze jumping to Henry, whose gaze flamed with fury as he spoke to someone on the phone. By the time she finished, he hung up and announced, “Police are on their way.”

“Pajarita, look at me,” Javi demanded, and Lyric glanced over. He tilted her head up with a gentle finger under her chin, and a cold cloth was pressed to her neck. She flinched, and Javi growled.

“If we find them—” Javi began, but Emerson’s voice eclipsed the fury in his voice from beyond the bus.

“Henry! Bring us some of that bondage shit you like. Can’t hold onto ‘em forever!”

Lyric’s eyes widened as Henry disappeared to the back and came out with nylon rope and a pair of cuffs. “Don’t worry, I’ll buy us new ones,” he commented with a wink, forcing a facade of lightness, and left the bus.

Javi bandaged her up, taking as much care of her wound as he had with her body only the day before, and then joined the others outside with a growl.

Nohen and Desi stayed with her until blue and red flashed in the parking lot. They were burrowed under a blanket, and Nohen’s arms were wrapped around her waist so tight she couldn’t really breathe.

“Whoa, Emerson and Adra did a good job with the rope. I wonder if Henry taught them that,” Desi observed casually. She was on her knees beside Lyric, looking out the windows and supplying commentary.

“Come on,” she pleaded with her protective beta. “Let me look outside!”

Nohen had refused to release her ever since he’d pulled her down to the couch. “Henry told us to stay on the couch until the cops come to interview you,” he argued.

Lyric turned her best puppy eyes on him. “Please? I just don’t know how I’ll sleep at night if I don’t see them loaded into a police car with my own eyes.”

Nohen groaned, fingers tightening around her. “I know you’re playing me like a guitar, but I can’t resist that face. You’re cruel.”

He opened his arms and let her wiggle free, and she leaned up to crack the blinds alongside Desi. The parking lot was a mess of police cars and dark suits, and it took her a moment to spot her guys. Emerson, Adra, Henry, and Javi had made an appearance, all speaking individually to police officers.

The couch dipped beside her, and Nohen grumbled, “I wanna see too.”

“Where are the bad guys?” she asked.

“To the right, see?” Desi tapped the glass, and Lyric followed the line of her finger to a group of police officers who were leading a struggling set of alphas to a pair of vehicles.

“I thought you said there was rope,” Lyric whined. She didn’t see anything but regular cuffs on the alphas.

“I just said that to get you up here. Worked, didn’t it?” Desi teased with a smile.

Lyric hummed and watched as the two alphas were loaded into the vehicles. She might have been joking with Nohen, but she couldn’t lie and say it didn’t make her feel better to know that the two were in custody. But that was just the two. What about the ring?

“Are you okay? Really?” Nohen asked, and pushed a strand of hair off her forehead.

“Yeah, I…oh! They’re coming back!” Lyric said, and pointed to her four alphas who were turning their backs to the police.

The door beeped, and one by one, four alphas stepped onto the bus... and kept going. A pair of officers followed them, and Lyric’s nose wrinkled at the unfamiliar scents. What followed was an exhausting interview process as the others waited in the back. She went over the occurrence of events until her throat was sore from recounting the attempted kidnapping. By the time they finally left the bus, Lyric wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for five years.

But first… she wanted her alphas.

Adra was the first one to come for her, his steps loud and booming as he stomped across the bus to scoop her up. He squeezed her so hard she squeaked, but she wrapped her arms around him. His relief was heavy through their connection, and she stroked a rhythm up the back of his neck.

“You should’ve screamed. I would’ve been there in a heartbeat. I’m so sorry.”

Lyric didn’t know if mentioning the knife held to her neck would help or hurt in the moment. “You were there when I needed you, that’s all that matters. You all were.” Lyric glanced over his shoulder at the other three and smiled. “Thank you.”