Page 47 of Adored By Them
I don’t give him a chance to pull the trigger.I grab his wrist with one hand, shove the gun up, and tear it from his grasp.
The sound of sirens fills the night.Someone called the police.Either Vorsong doesn’t hear the emergency vehicles because of the concussion I just gave him, or he doesn’t care.
“Fuck you and fuck the Laytons.”He advances on me again.
I swipe out with my legs, taking him down.
He falls with a grunt and tries to swipe out with his own legs.I dodge out of the way.While I’m in the middle of my spiral, he recovers.He reaches for something.Another gun?
A knife.The sharp blade gleams in the darkness.I square off, readying for his attack.I know knives.They’re my preferred weapon.Sharp, quiet.Speed and strength go well with them.I can handle this, because I’m superior to Vorsong in both.
But Vorsong only feints toward me.Before I realize what he’s doing, he spins around.Lunges for Dani instead.
Edmund and I both shout in alarm.Dani tries to scramble out of the way, but she wasn’t expecting Vorsong’s attack.
Edmund reaches him first, taking Vorsong down in a tackle.My momentum takes me right into them, so I land on them both.
Vorsong yells in pain.He isn’t fighting anymore.
Cautiously, I get up and tug Edmund after me.He’s unsteady on his feet.
“You all right, man?”I ask.
He blinks.“More or less.He hit me hard.”
Dani gets to her feet and edges away from Vorsong.
I stare at the groaning man lying on the ground.The knife juts from his ribcage.“He won’t be hitting anyone for a while.”
Looking down at the knife handle, Vorsong reaches for it.
“Don’t pull it out, you fucking idiot.”Dani’s voice is harsh.She tears off part of her skirt and cautiously returns to Vorsong’s side.“Don’t hurt me.”
“I—I won’t,” he wheezes.
Carefully, she applies the fabric to the area around his wound—it looks like the knife tore into him a bit, based on the blood soaking through his shirt and Dani’s makeshift bandage.
She kneels next to him while the sound of the sirens gets louder and louder.Edmund and I look on, half-bemused, half-wary.I don’t trust Vorsong, but Dani seems intent on saving his life.
He’s very lucky she’s here.Otherwise, Edmund and I would’ve let him pull out the knife.We might have done it for him.We might have stabbed him a few more times for good measure.
“How do you know what to do?”I ask Dani.
She shakes her head.“I don’t.But I watched enough first-aid scenes inAcademy of Ghosts, I have an okay idea.”
“I like…that show,” Vorsong says.
“Shut up,” Dani and Edmund say at the same time.
Red and blue flashing lights fill the alley as an ambulance and several police cars block the entrance.
As EMTs put Vorsong on a stretcher, he reaches toward Dani.I move to block his arm, but all he does is say, “Thank you.You saved my life.”
Dani nods.“Never touch me or my loved ones again.”
“I won’t.”He gasps in pain as the EMTs lift the stretcher.“It’s a promise.I owe you a debt.”
I’m tempted to jostle the stretcher, but I restrain myself.It’s more important to hold onto Dani while the EMTs check over Edmund and Greg for concussions.
