Page 16 of The Devil You Don't Know

Then, I froze, my hands still gripping the man’s shirt.

There wasthegirl, her dark eyes devoid of the spark I saw only minutes ago. Blood stained her hands, and the glass shards embedded in her palm glittered in the moonlight. She scrambled up, pushing herself back against the wall. Her underwear slipped around her ankles, and my heart froze. Her own blood stained her thighs and the ground below her.

Nate laid unmoving. I removed my hands quickly, letting him slump back down.He?—

I cut off the thought. Nate was known for a lot of shitty things, but would he really? I mean, there had been rumors…

The girl screamed.

Her cries would no doubt attract more bystanders. I moved closer to her, and she stopped. Her dark eyes tracked my movements, watching as if I would hurt her, too. I couldn’t blame her.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said, holding my hand out. “I can help.” It was a hesitant promise. This girl killed a Red Widow member. I was sworn to end her life—but Nate was a scumbag.

Samuel wouldn’t see it that way. He wouldn’t see Nate as the perpetrator. He would see him as a victim, even though he’d be quick to mark Nate as a coward in the same breath. He wouldn’t offer sympathy to the girl. In fact, he would demand that she kneel before him. Possible ways he would torture her pushed their way into my mind. I didn’t want to be a part of that in any way.

I dialed Logan—he would fix this.

“Got into more trouble?” he grumbled as he answered his phone. There was no sound of the band in the background, my heart dropping more.

“Meet me at Carson’s, there’s a—” I glanced at the girl, tears streaming down her face as she rocked back and forth. Her eyes were narrowed on Nate’s unmoving body. “I need you to dispose of a body first.”

“A body?” Logan’s tone shifted, the playfulness falling away. “Again?”

“I’ll fill you in. Just…can you get Liam? I’ll send you the location.”

There was a moment of silence from the other end. Eventually, Logan agreed, no questions asked. That was how we were. No matter the situation, we had each other to rely on—since we were kids. Logan was also no stranger to making things, orpeople, disappear. Whether they were still breathing or not was a different story.

I tucked the phone back into my pocket and moved a bit closer to the girl. “We met in the bar, I don’t know if you remember me.”

She didn’t look at me, just continued to stare at Nate. She shivered, her hands moving up to her hair. She ran her fingers through the dark locks, blood mixing into the strands. There was an innocence about her I hadn’t noticed in the bar. She had this rough exterior that dared me to fuck with her underneath the dim lights, but here…she was an injured bird.

“I’m Kai. What’s your name?” I asked, inching even closer.

She licked her lips, finally turning to stare at me. The innocence fell away, and her tears no longer fell. With the bloodstains on her face, I saw the strength she had. “Audry.”

“Here.” I pulled off my jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, elated when she didn’t try to move away again. “Let’s get you someplace warm and safe.”

“Safe?” she asked, her bottom lip trembling slightly. “But?—”

She shot a glance at the body.

“I’ll take care of it. Come on,” I said, holding out my hand to her.

Audry studied it, nervously. She tugged my jacket around her tighter, hiding her body from sight.

“You don’t need to trust me, I’m just a stranger. But”—I glanced back at the body. The longer we stayed, the worse it would be—“you can’t stay here, Audry. You don’t wanna go down for this.”

Her hand rested against mine, her cold flesh a shock. I helped her to her feet, steadying her weight. “The weapon?” She pointed to the glass, her question on the edge of her lips, but she didn’t ask it. She didn’t need to. Even in her panic, she still thought to save herself. She had killed a man and was worried about leaving behind evidence.

I grabbed the bottle that had fallen out of Nate’s neck when I moved him. As I turned around, I caught her tucking her underwear back into her jacket. A red flush rushed over her cheeks, matching the blood. Tears gathered in her eyes, but she held them back.

She took a step, but stumbled, losing her balance as her body handled the shock.

Audry sat back down onto the alleyway floor, her hands shaking.

“It’s okay,” I muttered. I tugged her into my arms, lifting her up and cradling her.

Her body tensed before she relaxed. Her head leaned against my chest, a small, barely audiblethank youescaping her lips.

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