Page 199 of Evil Boys

She shakes her head.

“I’m just scared,” she says, crying her eyes out as she holds on to him for dear life.

“I’m here; you don’t have to be scared anymore,” Nathan says. “I’ll take care of you.”

“What happened to Uncle Milo? Those guys hurt him when I tried to run,” she says, shivering.

I approach her and pat her little hand. “He’s okay. He’s in the hospital, but he’ll be all right. Don’t you worry about him.”

“Are you here to save me?” she asks me.

I nod. “We’re not leaving here without you.”

Nathan holds her tight while he directs his attention on Blaine, who’s casually eating one of the apple slices the guards left in their hurry to attack.

“Jesus Christ, an umbrella, katana? Really?” Nathan growls at Blaine. “You brought some nunchucks too while you’re out here trying to cosplay as Jackie Chan? No wonder Milo left you.”

“Yet you know about the nunchucks,” Blaine muses. “Who do you think taught him?”

They go head-to-head, seemingly forgetting all about the reason we came here.

“Guys, we need to look for a way out,” I say.

“Stop fighting,” Kai barks at them both.

Banging on the doors makes me step back. “Guys, we gotta hurry.”

“Open this fucking door!”

“I’m scared,” Rory murmurs, hiding in Nathan’s neck.

I check the room, but there’s no other doors except the one we came through. “Fuck, we’re stuck.”

“There has to be another way out of here,” Nathan says.

Kai holds down the door, shoving another chair underneath. “This won’t hold for long.”

“We can just face them head-on if you like,” Blaine says, chomping on some more apple slices like he’s having the time of his life. “I mean, we were already charging into it without thinking twice. Might as well finish the job.”

“Of course you’d suggest that,” Nathan scoffs. “You forgot we’ve got a kid we’re trying to keep safe.”

“Who the fuck are you?” a voice yells from behind the door.

We all look at each other.

“I don’t want to die.” Rory hides her face in Nathan’s shirt, shaking terribly.

We can’t subject her to all this violence. She has to get out of here unharmed, but how?

“What do you want to do?” Blaine asks, clutching his katana. “I’m ready to plow through them if needed.”

“And risk everyone in the club knowing what we look like?” Nathan grits. “If one of them rips off these masks, it’s game over.”

More banging on the door ensues.

“We have to make a decision,” Kai says.

I look around the room and spot a vent in the back big enough for a kid like her, and maybe just big enough for someone like me …

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