Sharpe?” she demanded of another dancer, who skittered to the side to let me pass.
“I don’t know,” she answered. “Probably went off to fuck Eric somewhere. Not like she spends any time with us. Stuck up bitch.”
I didn’t have time to put the little cunt in her place, but my teeth ground as I ducked into another hall and then continued across the back passageway toward the north side of the theatre. There were two alleys framing the building—the loading dock side on the west, and the alcove street alley where the trash went on the north.
It was also popular with the performers and the techs for stepping out to smoke or just escaping without having to wade through the richly dressed up front.
Not slowing, I raced up three stairs and then down another four before cutting a corner and sliding down the rails. I hit the door with a slam and pushed out into the alley. The darkness broken only by the milky light from the single unbroken overhead lamp created a dozen scattered shadows as dead fucker walking jerked around from where he had Emersyn crowded against a wall. The only thing keeping him off her was the fact Vaughn was right in his face.
While he might be shorter than I was or even the asshole ballerina who got off on hurting his partner, Vaughn was a brawler, old-school style, and built rock solid and thick.
“Fuck off,” he ordered me like I gave a rat’s ass about his opinion or his permission. Emersyn sent me a wild look. For the most part, Vaughn looked bored and cocked an eyebrow toward me like, can you believe this asshole?
Yeah.
I could believe him.
The overbearing prick walked around like he owned the world. “Get him away from her,” was all I said.
Emersyn sagged as Vaughn smirked, and he shoved the asshole back. A flash of lights at the end of the alley warned of the car’s arrival. The engine cut off as I caught Emersyn’s arm. “Let’s go,” I told her. She shrank back at my touch, and I opened my fingers immediately.
Ignoring the sounds of the struggle behind me, all I said was, “Don’t kill him.”
“Fuck, really?” Vaughn swore.
Steps closed in on us, but I swept a look over her. She was still dressed in that black bodysuit and nothing else. Her feet were fucking bare. Red decorated her toes.
“Emersyn,” Kellan said. “Let me get you out of here.”
Relief creased her face as she glanced past me, genuine relief, and even if she hadn’t been looking at me with fear, she hadn’t exactly been inspired. There was a new set of bruises on her arm and what looked like a burn.
The tearing silk came to mind and how she’d had to pull herself up and how she’d caught herself.
“You know,” Vaughn grunted out as flesh impacted flesh, “a little help would be great.”
I glanced over my shoulder as Kellan snorted, but Emersyn took that moment to dart past me. It was like everything slowed down, the world moved in stop motion.
The fucker wrestling with Vaughn slammed him with an uppercut, then plowed through. Kellan was moving to block him and so was I, but neither of us were fast enough. Emersyn hit the stone wall of the building with a soft grunt, and her head struck with a lot more force. I let go of her bag and slammed one fist then the other into the fucker’s kidneys, even as Kellan caught him in the throat. Vaughn came at him, and there was a flash of the knife.
“No,” I snarled before I slammed my elbow into the dick’s skull. The pain shot through my arm, but the asshole went down. “He doesn’t die quick.”
Vaughn stared at me, then past me to where Emersyn lay. Kellan had already gathered her up carefully, his palm coming away with blood on it, and he glared at me. “Keeping him alive got her hurt.”
“Keeping him alive is because he deserves a slow, fucking painful death. Look at her.”
“I am looking at her.” Kellan’s expression was stone.
“Secure him,” I ordered Vaughn. “Put him in the trunk.”
“Jesus, Hawk,” Kellan swore at me. “This isn’t the plan.”
“Yeah well,” I told him, snagging her bag and looking at her, “I’m changing the plan. Someone tried to kill her tonight, and this bastard has tried every single day they’ve been here.”
The fear on her face didn’t come from one incident, but from a lifetime of them. That much had been