54-Kit
Unease gnaws at me as I reread the message.
See that wasn’t so hard, love.
I hadn’t meant to type love. Zach read it three minutes ago. No reply. I stare at the screen, willing it to light up again.
Nothing.
Maybe she’s saying goodbye to her mate. Or paying her tab. The longer the silence stretches, the tighter my insides wring.
Thank you.
I hit send, just to see if she’ll read it. It sits unread. Brilliant. I’m a desperate wanker.
“How much longer?” I ask, trying to keep my voice level as my bouncing leg shakes the van.
“Right around the corner,” Cooper says from the driver’s seat.
I peek at my phone again. Still unread. My anxiety grinds as we turn into the car park.
The little pub sits on the corner, its old brick crumbling, and neon sign flickering. Her pinned location is practically on top of it. The GPS dot hovers exactly where she should be. I scan the amber-lit windows, searching for a flash of curly hair, a familiar silhouette.
Nothing.
“Cooper, call her,” I demand, shoving the van door open.
He dials immediately, pressing the phone to his ear. Her distinctive guitar riff ringtone echoes faintly. A flash catches my periphery near the back of the building, and I run toward it.
Seth’s right on my tail, breath frosty. Her phone is on the pavement, screen cracked, Cooper’s name on the blaring display. I turn to Cooper, who still has his phone pressed to his ear, his dark skin draining of colour.
“Call the police,” I tell him, already sprinting toward the alley.
Icy night air bites at my lungs as I run, my sprint pattering off the brick walls while Seth keeps pace beside me. The end of the alley opens up to a horizontal street a few blocks down, and at the mouth stands two figures, seemingly in a struggle.
“Zach!” I shout, voice cracking as I run faster, my legs gone numb with adrenaline.
The man lets go of her, hands shooting up in a show of innocence as Zach runs straight toward me. “I was just trying to talk to you!”
We collide, her body trembling against mine. I wrap my arms around her, scanning her quickly for any injuries. She shakes so hard it reverberates through my coat.
“It’s Carter,” she chokes out, and my muscles lock.
I suspected. But hearing it, experiencing her sheer terror, unravels my composure.
“Let’s go,” I say, voice low as Seth comes up beside me. “Take her.”
“No,” she whispers as I try to ease her toward him, shaking her head against my chest while she clings to me.
“Baby,” Carter slurs as he staggers closer, “I only came to say I’m sorry. You know I didn’t mean any of it.”
He looks ruined. Emaciated; with manky clothes falling off his limbs. A man rotting from the inside out.
“You best leave, mate,” I say, voice subdued, tension rolling off me.
“Oh, ’ello, cheerio, govnah’,” he mocks in a butchered British accent.
My blood boils. He sneers, revealing a mouth of missing teeth; the remaining ones stained and decaying.
I step forward, instinct overriding reason, but Zach squeezes my hand, silently begging me not to move.
Carter sniggers, its rasping cut off by a fit of watery coughs.
Zach flinches, pressing herself against me.
“Carter, you need to leave.” Zach turns her face halfway towards him, but I angle her between me and Seth, keeping her shielded. “I have a restraining order.”
“Zach—” He grips her wrist and yanks her, tearing a peeling cry from Zach’s lips.
“He hurt her. He nearly killed her. He’ll do it again. Stop him.”
I snap, and with a fling of my fist, the fucker’s on the ground. My ears ring as I pummel him, drowning out everything but Endymion’s voice, urging me further.
“Kit! Kit, stop!”
“Hey, you, let him go!”
Seth grabs the back of my shirt, hauling me to my feet. “Mate, that’s enough!”
I blink, heaving as reality tilts back into focus. Blazing-blue flashes across the pavement, followed by sirens. Two officers rip me from Seth’s grasp, voices sharp and authoritative.
“Kit!” Zach cries, trying to push past an officer. “Please, he was protecting me! Please—”
“We’ll figure it out at the station,” one says as he cuffs me. “For now, they’re both being detained.”
“Zach, love, let ’em do their job.” Seth steps in front of her, hands on her shoulders. “We’ll sort it.”
Carter’s lifted to his feet by another officer, muttering some nonsense as he sways back and forth. His eyes, nearly swollen shut, flick toward me. Only then do my knuckles sting, a jagged pain jolting through my right hand.
I’ve completely lost it.
Cooper’s already got his phone to his ear. “I’m calling Greg.”
After they read me my rights like they do in the movies, the officers guide me toward the squad car.
Zach fights against Seth, tears streaking down her cheeks.
Our gazes meet through the chaos, and I force a reassuring smile, even as sweat gathers at my brow.
My hand throbs. The door shuts between us with a heavy thud.
I’ve made an absolute mess of things, and the consequences are coming for all of us.