Page 23 of Thorned Vengeance

“Run!”

The voice is coming from my right, and I take off in that direction. When I reach the commotion, I see a woman scrambling away to hide behind a vehicle as another female stands in front of a man leaning against a car. They’re staring at each other intensely, murder in both their expressions.

“It’s you,” the woman growls.

“You’re gonna re?—”

“What the fuck is going on here?” I demand, unable to stay silent at the way the man is leering at her.

She glances over her shoulder, her eyes narrowing as I stride closer, and then she’s shoved by the man. I lunge forward and thrust my arms out to catch her before her body connects with the ground. Unfortunately, the man uses my distraction to take off running.

“Are you okay?” I ask the woman.

Rather than reply, she narrows her eyes and yanks away from me. “What the hell are you doing?” she screeches. “You let him get away!”

“I let him…” I shake my head. “Lady, I just saved your ass.”

She huffs out a breath. “You didn’t save shit,” she sneers. “And my name’s not Lady, it’s Delaney.”

“I’m Thorn.”

“Whatever.” Delaney turns away from me and glances around the lot. “Honey, are you still around?” she calls. “You can come out if you are.”

The other woman steps out from behind a car, and the parking lot lights gleam off the tears on her cheeks.

“What happened?” I demand.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Delaney says, glaring over her shoulder. “Who died and made you God?”

I snort. “I’m not God, sweetheart. More li?—”

“Um, I really wanna go home.”

Delaney and I turn to face the other woman. She’s still crying, and her arms are wrapped around her midsection.

“I need you to tell me what happened,” I tell her, forcing a small smile.

“I don’t even know,” she admits. “One minute, things are fine, and the next...”

“Do you have anyone who can come and get you?” Delaney asks.

The woman nods. “I can call my sister.”

“Do that,” I tell her. “We’ll stay here with you until she gets here.”

A look of confusion comes over her face. “Shouldn’t we call the cops?”

“No.”

“Nope.”

Delaney and I speak simultaneously.

“Um… okay.”

Thirty minutes later, the girl’s sister picks her up, and the concert is about over. Delaney begins to walk away from me as soon as the sister’s car is out of the lot, but I grab her arm to stop her.

Delaney’s fist connects with my jaw, and the pain is far worse than I’d expect from someone as tiny as her.

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