Page 123 of Lamb

“What?”

“We don’t have time for this,” Kay growled, glancing over her shoulder, impatience burning through the worn grooves of her aged face. As the old lady of the late president, it was not a surprise she was familiar with these situations. But the concern growing on her face made me uneasy and my heart stumble. This was not like other times. “They should be here by now.”

“The FBI?” I asked, jerking around a corner as we dove deeper into the encrypted clubhouse. “They’re already here.” That familiar panic, momentarily subdued by confusion and adrenaline, was rearing its head. “I have to get out of here, Kay. I need to go before they get to me!”

“I know,” Kay grunted. “Last thing we need is to be caught harbouring an illegal alien.”

Unease roiled in my chest as Kay began opening doors, slipping down corridors and turning hidden corners. I did not know the place well enough to track where we were going and, in the dead of night, I was truly lost. The compound was not a large place; not large enough for this myriad of turns and back routes. It would be an impossible maze for strangers. Impossible for me.

The further we ran, the more distant my escape felt, and the more power my mind took. My chest grew tight under its hold, my heart throbbing in my ears, and the unmistakable iron taste perverting my tongue. Oxygen thinned, and fog seeped into my mind, lead pooling in my feet as they began to catch and snag against the floor.

You will never get out. He is here. He is going to catch you.

“Wait,” I panted, my breathing slow and shallow. “Slow … down.”

I heard a curse from Kay sounding far away from me now. My arms and fingers tingled with numbing pain as I fought for each half-filled breath. Arms wrapped around my shoulders, and the force dragged me forwards, my feet catching my staggering body with great effort.

I wanted to run or walk without tripping. I needed to exhale the panic or take just one full breath. But I could not. Darkness swam around me as my world began to crumble.

He was here.

This was it.

It was all over.

“I cannot,” I gasped, my voice weak and agonised. “I cannot go back.”

“You won’t, honey.” Kay’s voice was soft and sweet in my ears. “I’m getting you out of here, okay? You’re going to be all right.”

A beam of light sliced across us, consuming us with an endless bright ocean as an icy-cold wind battered my skin. It swirled and sucked itself into my lungs, the cold jarring in my chest as it stirred a strong, resonating breath inside. We were finally out. But where was I supposed to go next? Where—

“Babe.”

I jerked upright, my oxygen-deprived muscles screaming in agony as I almost threw myself around.

Warmth wrapped around my cheeks, fingers grazing my neck as thumbs rested against my cheekbones. Palms pressed tight into my face as I looked up into a familiar pair of brown eyes.

“Lamb?” I whispered, fearing if I spoke too loudly, my hysterical illusion would disappear with a stroke of the wind. I searched the warm brown eyes staring down, as harsh and sharp as I remembered them, a deep running warmth stirring beneath the surface.

“Yeah, it’s me,” Lamb answered, hands shifting around my head, soothing my hair and gripping my shoulders, eyes scanning up and down my length, a relaxed wave washing over his movements as he recognised that I was uninjured.

The noise that had shifted away surged back with a booming force. An arsenal of bangs and shouting rocked through the clubhouse, smothered and tamped by the concrete walls. They were still trapped at the foremost part of the clubhouse, but it would not take long for them to advance.

He was here. He was coming.

“Lamb,” I rushed, my hands clamping onto his jacket, his attention snapping back to my face, reading the concern and panic flooding it. “The FBI, they are here. They have come for me. They are going to take me. Lamb, I cannot—” I stumbled over my tightening chest. My breaths shorted again as images of them bursting down the door, tearing us apart, and dragging me away took over my mind. It could not end like this. Itcould not.

“I know,” Lamb cut me off, those hands wrapping tightly around the sides of my face. “But right now, you’re having a panic attack.” He lifted his arms, draping something warm and heavy around my shoulders. It was drenched in his sandalwood scent. Then Lamb wrapped his arms around me, pulling me tight against his chest as his large palms rubbed up and down my back in soothing, rhythmic waves. I struggled against the hold, my adrenaline and panic wanting to burst free and run as far away as I could. I was numb, and my legs were like lead, but I was ready to drag myself claw by claw to get away.

“Let me go, Lamb! We need to—”

“Ash, babe,” Lamb said, pulling back just enough to look at me. One arm stayed planted around my waist, keeping me pressed into his warmth, as the other reached up and cupped my chin, tilting my head to his. “I know we need to get out of here,but I can’t put you on the back of my bike if you’re going to pass out.”

“I am not, I will not, I—”

“After me,” Lamb interrupted me once again. Frustration burnt through my chest. “One …” Lamb said as he took a deep inhale.

“We do not have time for—”

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