Page 7 of Beneath the Flames
My steps quickened to get inside my car, and I had just unlocked the door when a hand gripped my arm, yanking me down into the shadows of the alley next to the bakery.I swallowed hard, trying to get the dough out of my mouth so I could speak or scream.Fingers tightened on my upper arms as my back was slammed into the brick wall.
I gagged against the last swallow of donut, opening my mouth to scream when a calloused hand smothered it.
“Quiet,” a male voice snapped.A black sweatshirt hung loose on his shoulders, the hood shielding his eyes.I couldn’t tell who he was.Something cold and sharp pressed against my neck, and I went utterly still.
“What do you want?”I breathed, afraid to say more than that.Even if there wasn’t a weapon poised to end my life, I didn’t know how to fight back.
For years, I had wanted to learn self-defense, but the moment my father got a whiff of that, he shut it down.I had learned that fighting back was not an option.Not if I valued my life.
Oh, the irony.
“Shh, quiet,” he whispered, the heat of his putrid breath fanning over my face.“Don’t try to fight or you won’t leavethis alley alive.”The knife pressed harder against my throat in warning, and a sting of hot blood trickled down my neck.He tightened his grip to the point that a whimper escaped through my lips, and my body began to shut down like it always did.“Make a peep and you’ll die.”I couldn’t see his face beneath the shadows of his hood.The only thing my brain could register was the faint scent of smoke, like the kidnapper had been around a campfire recently.
Davie had always been a safe town.Nothing ever happened here.
Tears welled in my eyes.Dread sank heavy into my gut, curdling like spoiled milk.
He shook me hard, the back of my head hitting the brick wall.Black dots danced in my vision.“Do you understand?”
Another whimper was my only answer, burning tears sliding down my cheeks.
With a grunt, he yanked me forward out of the shadows into the blinding sunlight.It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the light as I tried to force the tears away.Every instinct within me wanted to scream, to call out, but I didn’t know who this man was or what he wanted with me.
Besides, there was no one on the street—no one in sight.
As my body continued to shut down with no hope of escape, a familiar head of dark hair appeared down by the small grocery store.At first, he didn’t see me, continuing on his way to a black SUV parked farther down the street.
But then, as if his eyes were drawn to mine, his head whipped in my direction.Though I remained silent, I tried to put every ounce of pleading into my eyes.
“Hey!”the man called.“Everything okay?”
The man gripping my arm swore under his breath, yanking me faster toward the creepy van parked behind mine.
My body obeyed automatically, thoughts entirely freezing in my brain.
And then the man with gold-ringed eyes started walking toward us.
My kidnapper swore again and changed directions, heading for another alley, then swore loudly when he found it was a dead end.He immediately backtracked.
Right into Gold-Eyes’s chest.
“Are you okay?”the guy repeated, those strange eyes studying the fear plastered on my face.“Is this man bothering you?”Sweat beaded on my forehead, but I couldn’t get my mouth to open, to ask for help.
The kidnapper squeezed my arm in warning, and I couldn’t hold back a wince.My lack of response must have been answer enough because he turned his attention on black hoodie man.
“Let her go,” he ordered, his voice a deep rumble.
The man yanked me closer.“This has nothing to do with you.”Even though Gold-Eyes had several inches on him and plenty of muscle, the kidnapper had the audacity to flick his hand at him, shooing him.
The stranger from the grocery store looked between us for another moment before a wry grin split across his face.
“Actually, it does.”
And then he attacked.
Or at least I thought he attacked.I wasn’t quite sure what I was seeing.
Gold shimmering light, brighter than the sun, burst before my eyes, and I slammed them shut.The kidnapper flinched, his fingers loosening enough that I was able to yank away from him.My sneakers stuck to the hot pavement, and I stumbled forward, knees banging painfully into the rocks and asphalt.
