Page 56 of Ruthless Salvation

He let loose a savage howl, swinging his fist into my face on his way down. He was vicious—relentless in his attack—but he wasn’t the only one.

I refused to go quietly.

Continuing my momentum from his strike, I spun all the way around and slammed the bat into the side of his head with a sickening crack. The man dropped to the floor with a resounding thud.

I didn’t think; I just ran.

Grabbing my purse on the way out the door, I bolted down the hall, nearly fell in the stairwell twice, then burst out the front entrance to the building. I didn’t stop. I pushed forward as quickly as I could, though I had no idea where I was going. I just knew I had to keep moving.

Once I was a block away and the adrenaline began to subside, the pain kicked in. My hip. My ribs. My face. They all screamed at me to stop, but I couldn’t. I had to get to safety. But where?

The first thing I did when I moved to a new city was prepare multiple emergency escape plans. What I didn’t do was plan to run on a night when the entire city was shut down. I had a go-bag in my apartment as well as one tucked away in a locker I’d rented at the YMCA. Neither was of use to me now.

I wouldn’t even consider putting my new friends in danger by showing up at their doorsteps. That wasn’t an option. And it was too cold to spend the night outside, especially now that my body felt half broken.

Shit,shit.

What was I supposed to do? Where was I supposed to go?

Green neon lights caught my attention before I realized where I’d wandered. I’d taken myself on autopilot to The Moxy. That was when I remembered I had a key to the back door.

Tor wasn’t the only one with a penchant for copying keys.

Like the bat and the vase, I was perpetually trying to set up future Stormy for survival. It had almost become a habit. When I learned Keir and Torin never used the alarm system because the cleaners were in during off hours, I decided the key might come in handy.

I could have kissed myself.

Slipping into the back alley, I got the key from my purse and breathed a sigh of relief when the lock turned over easily, and the door opened without the alarm panel beeping.

ThankGod.

I just needed the night to figure out what to do, then I’d disappear first thing in the morning.

The locker room looked eerie in the silent darkness. I’d never seen the club so lifeless. I had to use my phone flashlight to find the light switch in the pitch black. When the fluorescent bulbs buzzed to life, revealing familiar surroundings, my system began to come down from its emergent panic. Like aftershocks following an earthquake, my entire body began to tremble. I needed to sit before I passed out.

With my back against the royal-blue lockers, I slid down to the cold floor, hugging my purse to my aching chest.

That was when it hit me that I’d left Blue Bell behind.

My precious, sweet Blue Bell.

The dam holding back my tears came crashing down. Sobs seized my lungs, wracking my body, one after the other.

I couldn’t return to my apartment now that it had been compromised.

Blue Bell was gone.

My new friends were gone.

Moxy was a thing of the past.

And Torin … how could I have even considered using him to shield me from Damyon? Coming between that monster and me was a death sentence. I never should have even considered telling him. As much as it shattered my heart, I would leave the city first thing in the morning, alone once more.

Present

“Any leads on Darina?”I asked Oran while we sat around our grandparents’ house on Thanksgiving. I was asking more out of politeness than concern. That girl was long gone—part of the skin trade or at the bottom of the Hudson—but either way, looking was futile.

“Yes, actually.”