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She smiled. “Lukas,” she breathed out, hanging her head back against his chest. Knowing that watching her dance pushed him to join her made her feel powerful. Knowing that he desired her. She slowly opened her eyes when he didn’t say anything, looking up into the face of not Lukas, but Caleb.

She tensed in horror. She should have known it wasn’t Lukas by scent alone—the drink must have clouded her head too much to realize. Immediately, she sobered. She pulled away from him, but Caleb gripped her hips tight enough there would be bruises later.

“W-what are you doing here?” she stammered, frozen in his grasp.

Caleb leaned down to her neck, smelling her, and she shuddered in disgust. He moved to her ear and whispered, “Ricky saw you, and those academy brats, in the line outside earlier, and called me. Aren’t you glad? Aren’t you happy to see me? I’m happy to see you.”

“N-no, I’m not. P-please, let me go.” She couldn’t believe he had reduced her to a stuttering mess so fast.

Caleb laughed, running one hand down to rest on her thigh, hitching up the edge of her dress. He ran the other hand up her side to graze the side of her breast.

“Did you dress up for that long-haired asshole I saw you with before?” He gripped her tighter and jerked her ass against his groin.

Blaire whimpered and shook her head quickly in an effort not to anger him as she tried not to cry right there on the dance floor in front of the other dancers. They all likely assumed she and Caleb were just a couple dancing close together. Her eyes filled with tears that threatened to spill.

Caleb spoke through gritted teeth. “You’ve had your fun, and now it’s time for you to come home where you belong.”

Her spine stiffened as her temper flared. She fought too hard to get away from him, and her counseling sessions were helping her close away that part of her life and move on, and here Caleb was threatening to reverse all the progress she’d made. That couldn’t happen. She looked toward where their table was, but the dance floor had filled with more dancers when the song changed to something faster. She couldn’t see Lukas. She needed to get to him before it was too late.

When Blaire jerked away from Caleb and stepped forward to leave, he grabbed her by the back of her hair, wrapped it around his hand, and pulled her back to his chest. She yelped at the sharp sting on her scalp, and a few dancers glanced over at them, but then turned away. He tightened his grip.

“Don’t make a scene,” he hissed into her ear. He stayed behind her and guided her off the dance floor to the back doorway that led into the alley.

It was over. She would never see Lukas again. Never see Riley, Aiden, or the others. Tears fell over her cheeks as he pushed her through the doorway.

Out in the alley, Caleb pushed her back up against the brick wall and slapped her across the face.

“Where did you get the fucking nerve to even think you could just run off and join some preppy little academy and leave me?”

“I-I-I-I’m sorry,” Blaire sobbed as she bent forward, wrapping her arms around her body to protect herself.

Caleb moved in on her, forcing her to stand as he pressed himself against her body on the brick wall. She wanted the ground to open and swallow her at that moment. Her worst nightmare was coming true. He was going to take her back, and this time she’d never escape. It was all over.

A sickening feeling washed over her as she stared into his dead hazel eyes, as if he’d lost any rational side of himself and had given in to his twisted mind. No traces of the stepbrother she once knew long ago remained. Would he take her to his grandparents? Would they make good on their promise to make her disappear? Blaire trembled uncontrollably as the reality hit her that she might not see the sunrise. Her tears wouldn’t stop as they streaked down her face, ruining the beautiful makeup job Mera did for her.

The back-alley door banged open again, but Blaire was too caught up in her fear to care who was there. No one would stop Caleb. She was alone.

“You’ll definitely be sorry when you get home. I’m tired of waiting, Blaire. It’s time you fulfilled all the duties of a wife. My wife. Did you seriously think having an affair with someone like your preppy rich boyfriend was better than being with me?” Caleb stepped forward and backhanded her again when she failed to respond, choking on her tears. “You will answer me when I’m fucking talking to you!”

Blaire collapsed from the force, but muscular arms caught her before she could hit the ground—Aiden. He wrapped her in a tight embrace as an inhuman sound sent a chill down her spine. She looked up as Caleb startled, turning.

Then Caleb slammed into the brick wall, and it cracked, pieces of brick falling behind him, blood spluttering from his mouth from the force of the impact. Lukas held him against the wall, snarling at him. It all happened so fast; she didn’t have the opportunity to process it at first.

He looked absolutely feral.

He’d come for her.

“What the fuck is your problem?” Caleb shouted as he jerked against Lukas.

Mera, Kai, Riley, and Seth finally piled out the back door. Lukas and Aiden must have run out ahead of them.

When Caleb pulled only slightly from his hold, Lukas again slammed him against the wall with more force than Blaire realized he was capable of using. Caleb coughed up more blood, and it ran down his chin and neck. Blaire shrieked when he hit the wall, and Aiden pulled her close to his body, pressing her face to his chest to keep her from seeing what was happening as she sobbed.

“It’s alright…” he whispered as she clung to him, unable to stand on her own anymore. She was shaking so badly. He smoothed her hair with his hand to comfort her.

Blaire could hear the sounds of a struggle. Caleb’s screams of pain and cries for help. Lukas’s growls and snarls as he took out his rage on her long-time abuser. She tried to pull away from Aiden, but he tightened his hold and whispered over the top of her head, “No. You don’t want to see this…” Would Lukas kill Caleb? She wasn’t sure she wanted him to stop.

Everything went quiet after a few moments, and Blaire pushed against Aiden. He relented, which allowed her to lift her head. He still held her firmly, and it was a good thing, because the scene that met her eyes chilled her to the bone. Caleb lay in an unmoving heap on the ground. His body was covered in blood, and bone pierced his pant leg where it had been broken in half in a way that bent his leg at an impossible angle. It was hard to make out his face. It had been beaten so badly, beginning to swell.