Page 71 of Entering a New World

“Alistair!” I gasped, whirling around. My eyes landed on him—and the professor he was holding hostage, an arm slung around the man’s waist and a knife pressed to his throat as if we were in some kind of movie or crime show.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Levi,” Alistair snarled, his eyes darting through the room, never quite managing to focus on anything for more than a second. The hand in which he was holding the knife was shaking badly. Holy shit, I needed to do something, or he’d end up cutting the professor’s throat by accident.

“Okay… let’s just head outside and talk, then,” I said, trying to remain calm even though I felt anything but. Rage was pulsing through my veins, igniting every cell in my body.

Right in front of me was the man who’d abandoned me in the wilderness. Who’d left me there to die.

“Lead the way.” Alistair nodded his head, his hand tightening on the knife. The professor trembled in Alistair’s grip, his eyes wide, sheer terror written all over his face. He was holding on to Alistair’s arm, as if he was going to try to pry it away from his throat, but it looked like he was more clinging to it in fear.

My heart constricted with guilt. I was the reason he was in that situation. This was on me, and I needed to make this right.

“Sure, no problem,” I said, stalling to come up with an idea to get Alistair to let go of the professor. “Why don’t you let the professor go and we can go outside and talk things out like grown-ups? I’m sure we can come to an agreement. We did pretty good on compromises when negotiating my contract, right? So, I’m a hundred percent sure we can come up with something. Just let the professor go.”

I had no idea what kind of agreement that could be. Then again, I wasn’t entirely sure what Alistair even wanted from me. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Do you think I’m stupid?” Alistair bellowed. “I’m not letting go of my leverage. We’re going to go outside—all three of us—and then you’ll do a livestream. You’ll tell everyone you’re okay, and that I didn’t do anything wrong. You’ll apologize for the misunderstanding and tell people you’re still my client. Got it?”

I started shaking my head, but caught myself in time to nod instead. Don’t do anything to rile him up, I told myself, forcing my breath into an even rhythm.

“Sure. Whatever you want. Look, along the hall, there’s the door leading outside to the patio. Mave always has nice lawn chairs out. We can sit down and talk, and everything’s going to be fine.”

I was rambling.

Dammit.

“Lead the way.”

Taking a deep breath, I braced myself, then started walking down the hallway. The back of my neck tingled, my hairs rising. Alistair was behind me. He had a knife in his hand. If he pushed the professor off him, he could attack me and I’d never see him coming.

Oh, my fucking god. Alistair was behind me with a knife in hand.

The words kept playing in my head like a mantra of doom, shattering every ounce of calm I still possessed, leaving me a trembling, anxious mess.

But then again, no one had ever prepared me for a situation like this.

“Here’s the door,” I said, nodding towards the wooden door that was clearly labeled as an emergency exit for everyone to see. But I couldn’t keep quiet. I needed to do something. I needed to come up with a plan.

Great. And what are you going to do while he’s holding someone hostage at knifepoint?

Cold air hit me straight in the face, shocking me back into action. I took a deep, calming breath and opened the door wider to let the pale light of dawn filter into the well-lit hallway.

I could smell the forest. Could smell a hint of the sea in the distance, the salt almost tangible to me. And if I tried really hard, I could swear I was able to hear the waves crashing against the beach. Then again, it might just be the blood rushing through my ears.

“Sit down!” Alistair demanded, kicking a foot in the vague direction of a group of wooden lawn chairs.

The professor squeaked and grabbed Alistair’s arm harder until his fingernails dug into my former manager’s skin.

It was the first sound I’d heard the professor made, I realized, and tried to catch the man’s eyes, silently asking if he was okay.

A stupid question because someone with a knife pressed up against their throat usually was decidedly not okay, but I still needed to show I was there. That I’d make things okay.

Before Alistair could freak out about me not sitting down fast enough, I dropped down in the chair closest to me, then instantly wondered if I’d just made a huge mistake.

Did this give Alistair the upper hand?

Kind of, right?

If I wanted to attack, I’d have to get up first, which would give him time to prepare for an attack, and… yeah. I definitely wasn’t the type to jump him while he had a hostage.

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