Page 51 of Made of Steel (Made of Steel 1)

"This is going to hurt, darling."

Tears bit at my eyes as the knife came in contact with my skin. It didn't slice my neck, though. My eyes flashed down to the blade against the side of my jaw. He wasn't trying to kill me. What the hell was he doing? The knife slid under my skin. The pain was blinding.

He coughed and the knife clattered to the ground. He released his hand that was clamped down over my mouth and my body slid down the brick wall. When my feet hit the pavement, I should have run. But I couldn't seem to look away. He slapped his hand to his neck as he stumbled sideways. He coughed again and teetered slightly.

I heard a noise behind me and spun around.

The Converses. The sweatpants. The dark blue hoodie. The New York City vigilante was crouched down on the other side of the alley, with one hand splayed against the pavement like he had just jumped down from something. He lifted his face slightly, but not enough for me to see in the shadows.

"Run." His voice was low and rumbled slightly. It sounded like it was being altered somehow.

I just stared at him. I didn't want to run. I wanted to thank him. He had just saved my life. But my body was still defying me. No words came to my lips.

"You need to go home. Now. It's not safe for you here."

I didn't have a home. Where was I supposed to go? Sirens started to wail in the distance.

"Run, Sadie."

His words gave me chills. He knows my name. I took a step back. That had seemed to be enough to get my feet moving. How did he know who I was?

There was a crashing noise and my head snapped toward the man who had tried to kill me. He had just fallen into a pile of garbage. When I turned back to the vigilante he was gone. I looked up. There was nothing. Where had he gone?

The sirens were getting closer. He told me to run. He told me I wasn't safe. I willed my feet to keep moving as I ran as fast as I could out of the alley. And I kept running until the door to my dorm room was safely locked behind me.

Had I just imagined that whole thing? The blood dripping down my jaw was evidence enough that at least that part was real. But the vigilante? I touched my forehead. I was drunk. I was scared. Had I imagined that I saw him?

I thought about the way his voice rumbled. The way his muscles seemed to bulge underneath the fabric of his hoodie. The way he knew my name. I felt safe when I was with Eli. I felt like I was home when I was with Miles. But no one made me feel as protected as the vigilante did. He had saved my life.

Chapter 28

Saturday

I woke up panting. I dreamed it was the vigilante pushing me up against the wall in the alley. I imagined it was his thumb tracing my cheek. What's wrong with me? My stomach seemed to churn. I threw my hand over my mouth and ran out of my room toward the bathroom. I was just able to open the stall door when I started to throw up all the alcohol I had consumed last night.

Shit. I melted down onto the floor in front of the toilet and wiped my mouth off with a wad of toilet paper. Last night was a blur. When I closed my eyes, all I could picture was the vigilante. My mind wasn't focused on the person who had attacked me at all. I was consumed by images of the vigilante. I had been paralyzed by fear. But not fear of him. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I wasn't scared of him at all. I was intrigued by him. And apparently I enjoyed fantasizing about him while I slept. I placed my hand on my forehead. This was probably the worst headache I had ever had. I'm never going to drink again.

I should have been terrified. I should have been calling Mr. Crawford, telling him I had been attacked. But I didn't feel like I needed to. I wasn't in danger if the vigilante was looking out for me, if he was watching me. A chill ran down my spine. Was that why it felt like I was being watched? Had it been the vigilante watching me the whole time? And the attacker could have just been a coincidence. There was crime in New York City. He didn't say that Don had sent him. It could have been a random attack.

The only thing I was sure about was the fact that I needed to see the vigilante again. I needed to thank him. I needed to figure out how he knew my name. There were a million questions I wanted answered. And it wasn't just for the project, it was because I honestly wanted to know who was hiding behind that mask.

I flushed the toilet and walked over to the sink. I had covered the cut on my jaw with a huge Band-Aid. For the life of me, I didn't understand why he had cut me there. He could have ended my life with one swipe across my throat. It was as if he wanted something from me. The thought made me shiver.

It was a random attack. I took a deep breath. I refused to leave this city. This was going to be my new home, and I was determined to keep it that way. That meant getting into better shape. I nodded at my reflection in the mirror. It was time to fully become Sadie Davis. And Sadie Davis was independent and strong. I can do this.

***

I leaned over and placed both my hands on my knees. Jesus. I could barely catch my breath. Apparently wanting to be in shape and actually getting in shape were two entirely different things. But I had run the two mile course I had mapped out for myself. It had taken me way longer than it should have, but I had done it. That was all that counted.

I slowly stood up and walked back into my dorm building. The stairs seemed daunting, but I forced myself to take them. When I finally got to my room, I was ready to collapse. My thighs were screaming in protest as I put my key into the lock. I wasn't surprised to see that it was already unlocked. Kins usually found her way back to our dorm around noon. I pushed the door open. Even my arms hurt. I wasn't even sure why.

"I texted you like ten times," Kins said.

I just blinked at her. She had way too much energy for having drunk as much as me last night. "I went for a run. What's up?" I didn't mean to sound pissy, but I was a little mad at her. She had completely ditched me last night. I shook away the thought. If she hadn't, though, I may never have met the vigilante. Really I should have been thanking her.

"We're having a double date. Geez, what happened to your face?"

My hand instinctively touched the bandage. "I drank way too much last night and tripped on the way home. It was stupid."

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