Alissa
Nate had sent him?
All the blood drained from my face. Humiliation swept through me. Oh God, and I’d just propositioned him like a prostitute. It was no wonder he’d called me a whore. I’d just acted like one.
He touched something at his ear—an earpiece of some kind—and spoke quietly into what I assumed was a tiny microphone. “Found her. Back room behind the theater. Be ready, everyone. I’m bringing her out.”
The man’s black gaze settled on me again. “If you want out of here, come with me now.” His gaze raked down my body and back up. “Free of charge. This is your only chance.” He turned toward the door, not waiting to see if I would follow. Did he want me to stay behind? His attitude said he didn’t care if I went with him or not.
I went with him without hesitation, too stunned, too abhorred by what he probably thought of me and what he might tell Nate, to even think of resisting. This was my chance at freedom. Hunky Nate had come for me. I yanked Sophia out from the behind the door, dragging her after me.
One of Enrique’s thugs lay just outside of the door. Either dead or knocked out. I stepped over him, averting my gaze, and put my finger to my lips to warn Sophia to keep quiet.
As we tiptoed after our rescuer, I suddenly remembered him. He’d been there that night when Nate had come to my apartment with Jacob The Fighter to take Hazel home. He was a dreg. Nate’s friend. He was good-looking in a dark, scary kind of way. There was a harshness about him, a coldness, a lethal edge that unnerved me. Maybe if he smiled, he might be less scary.
Where was Nate?
We were in back of the theater, in between layers of curtains behind the stage. Out here, the sounds of the auction were much louder. The crowd was cheering and whistling, helping to drown out the noise of our footsteps as we tiptoed toward freedom.
Two armed guards intercepted us before we got very far, shouting angrily in Spanish.
“Hide,” our rescuer whispered. Then he just disappeared. Vanished. Like a puff of smoke. There one second. Gone the next. Poof.
How did he do that? I raced behind a nearby curtain, pulling Sophia with me.
We waited, our hearts racing. The thugs continued shouting and running about, shoving the curtains aside in their search for us.
I peered around the curtain in time to see our rescuer suddenly reappear behind one of the thugs. Without a sound, he snapped the man’s neck, then silently laid him on the floor.
My breath caught. He lifted his head, his gaze locking on mine.
Then he disappeared again.
Poof.
The remaining thug had no idea his friend had just been murdered. He crept forward, tossing curtains aside. Coming closer.
Closer.
Sophia and I tensed, waiting. Afraid to move.
He was now only one curtain away.
The thug thrust aside the curtain where we hid.
Sophia screamed.
Our rescuer suddenly reappeared right behind Enrique’s thug. He lifted a gun and slammed it into the man’s head, knocking him out. Then he turned toward us. “Let’s go.”
We didn’t argue. He’d just taken out two of Enrique’s thugs. He was our chance at freedom.
He ushered us forward and out a side door, into the night.
The cool night air caused a shiver to jolt through me. The nights were cool in late September, making me wish I had a jacket. The slinky black dress was sleeveless and silky, so it didn’t offer much cover and zero warmth.
“This way.” The man moved around the side of the building, and I quickly followed with Sophia at my heels.
Suddenly we were surrounded by dark forms that morphed into men as they moved closer. I knew the moment Nate appeared. It was like a sixth sense or something that enabled me to pinpoint him out of the group clustered around us. Even in the dark, I knew right away which shape belonged to him. My heart racing, I slowly turned my head. He was every bit as big and powerful and intimidating as I remembered, his presence like a tidal wave slamming into me with such force it left me breathless and reeling and unable to speak.
He stepped up beside me, his gaze raking me from head to toe. Even though I couldn’t see him very well in the dark, I felt his intense scrutiny like flames licking over my skin.
Embarrassed heat washed over me, scalding me from the top of my scalp clear to the tips of my toes. What did he think of me wearing this slutty dress? I looked like a damn prostitute. And if the dreg who’d rescued us told Nate how I’d rubbed up against him, Nate would likely think I was a prostitute.
I turned my face away, unable to bear his scrutiny any longer.
The man who’d rescued us spoke to the others in hushed tones. Four of the men quickly moved off, leaving just Nate and our rescuer behind with us.
Sophia grabbed my hand tightly, and I gently squeezed back. “It’s going to be okay,” I assured her. “These guys are here to help. They won’t hurt you.”
Nate turned to me again. I forced myself to meet his gaze.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently, his words and his kindness taking me by surprise. He reached for my hands and gently cut the zip ties away with a knife. Our rescuer cut Sophia’s binds, freeing her, as well.
“Yes. Thank you.” I rubbed my sore wrists. “Thank you so much.” I glanced over at the other man who was eyeing me coldly with those dark eyes. He didn’t like me for some reason. I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me, so I wasn’t sure where his hostility came from.
He thinks you’re a prostitute. Maybe he hates prostitutes.
Be nice to him, and he’ll be nice back.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to meet his gaze. “I want to thank you, too. I never got your name. Whatever it was you did in there—an illusion or something—it was cool.”
He grunted in response, but he made no other sound.
Nate chuckled next to me, his soft laughter making little tingles of awareness shoot through me. “That’s Tony. He was born rude, so don’t be offended. That’s just the way he is.”
Tony harrumphed and turned away.
Nate glanced back at us. “Come on, ladies. Let’s get out of here.”
Shouts echoed across the campus. Dark shapes rushed toward us.
Then gunshots exploded all around.
People screamed and fled, running in every which direction.
“Get down!” Nate shouted.
A scream died in Sophia’s throat as she toppled over beside me. I stared down at her, stunned. Oh my God! Was she dead?
Then pain zinged through my thigh, ripping into my leg.
I gasped and stumbled. Nate dived into me, knocking me to the ground.
He kept his big body over mine, protecting me, as bullets whizzed all around us.
The pain in my leg dulled temporarily as awareness snaked through me. Good Lord, the man was hard and muscular, a wall of rock protecting me. Power emanated off him like steam. I had no doubt this was the safest place for me in that moment. Beneath his big, strong body.
More gunshots rang out. Then silence.
“Let’s get out of here!” Someone shouted.
Nate lifted his head, then he rose and jerked me to my feet.
I wobbled, my leg protesting in pain.
“My leg,” I whispered.
“You’re hit?” His gaze burrowed into me.
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“My leg.”
Before I could protest, he scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder. Then he rushed away, his arm pressing across my bare thighs and holding me in place. The other dregs appeared around us, all carrying guns. More gunfire erupted, and they fired back at Enrique’s thugs or whomever was shooting. I bounced over Nate’s shoulder as he ran, trying to catch a glimpse of what was going on around us.
Finally, after several blocks, we reached a parking lot. Nate flipped me off him, and gently set me on my feet.
Oh God. Sophia. I’d forgotten about her.
“Sophia,” I whispered.
“She’s gone,” came Tony’s clipped response. “Dead.”
My heart squeezed. I didn’t know her, not really. But her loss still pained me. She’d been an innocent. A sweet girl. It wasn’t fair. I’d tried to save her, but instead I’d gotten her killed.
“It’s my fault,” I whispered.
Tony grunted. The dark look he sent me would have easily wilted fresh flowers. He moved away and climbed into the passenger seat of the black SUV, yanking the door closed behind him. Why did he hate me so much? What had I ever done to him?
Nate opened the back door of the vehicle and helped me inside.
“Ignore him. You can’t blame yourself. Things happen.” He pulled a rag of some kind from underneath the seat and wrapped it tightly around my thigh. “This should help control the bleeding until I get you out of here. Then I’ll pull over somewhere and take a look at your leg.”
I nodded, the shock slowly wearing off.
He closed the door and climbed behind the wheel.
Moments later, we were off, leaving the danger behind.
Nate had come for me. Even though he didn’t know me. He’d freed me.
He was a true hero. They all were.
The rumors about the dregs were false.
They weren’t bad men.
They were heroes.