“I don’t know.”
“Then how do you know they were waiting for you?”
“They were by my bike.”
I nodded quickly. “Okay, that’s bad. Um, what were they doing? Were they carrying any--?”
He groane
d. “Just give me a second.”
“Do you know what they want?”
He growled. “Dani?”
“Yes?”
“Shut up and give me a second to think.”
My stomach churned with nerves. Tears of fear rushed my eyes. I closed them, trying to hold them back because I didn’t want Max to see me this weak. I didn’t want him to think I couldn't handle this life. Or being out with him. But when my body began to tremble, I knew my anxiety had betrayed me.
Of course you’d walk into trouble the night Max warns you it’ll come for them.
It was like the world was actively trying to separate us.
“Shit.”
My eyes flew open. “What?”
He gripped my arm. “Come with me. Now.”
I stumbled away from the wall. “Wait a second. What’s happening. What--?”
“They’re coming. We have to run. Now.”
And again, he certainly didn’t have to tell me twice.
14
Max
I dragged Dani behind me until we made it to the back of the alleyway. I ripped her around the corner and spun her until she faced me, placing her back against the wall. Then I jammed my hand back into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
“Dani, I need you to do something for me. It’s important.”
I kept my voice as low as I could while she looked up at me with wide eyes.
“What is it?” she asked.
I slapped my phone in her hand. “Call a man in my contacts named Rupert. You remember him, right? Red hair?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I--I do.”
“Good. Call him. Tell him where we are. Tell him I need him now. As soon as he can get here.”
“What’s going to happen? What’s happening, Max?”
The tremble in her voice broke my heart. The tears she kept trying to blink back shook me to my core. The way her hand quaked as he wrapped her fingers around my phone made me wonder if I was a fool. If I really had done right by her in letting her make her own decision about this.