I can’t believe my eyes.
The Corvette has stopped a couple of blocks up on the side of the road.
It’s not too late.
I hang up before Ri answers. Sticking to the shadows, I move swiftly down the street toward the parked car. They could speed off again at any moment, but I don’t want the man driving to spot me either.
Finally, I approach the car, ducking down so the driver can’t see me until the last second. Popping up and peering in the driver’s side window, I aim my gun at where the driver should be, but the entire front row is empty.
Did they get out of the car?
I glance around, trying to figure out where he might have taken her, when the corner of my eye catches a flash of movement in the backseat.
My heart sinks.
She’s alive, but I’m still going to die for failing her. The man is on top of her. She’s pinned to the seat beneath him as he thrusts in and out of her—taking what isn’t his.
My teeth grind together and my feral growl shoots through the streets as I break the window.
“Get. Off. Her,” I yell with my gun pointed at his head.
“Don’t hurt her,” he says, his voice shaky. “I have money. You can have it all. I’ll do whatever you want; just don’t hurt her.”
My nostrils flare. “Don’t hurt her? I’m not the one hurting her.”
“I’m—I’m not hurting her,” his squeaky voice revealing his inexperience. He’s probably the same age as me, but our lives have led us to very different places. I haven’t been a boy since I was ten, and he’s a full-grown man-child.
He’s not the secret threat to the Corsis, but he could be working for him or some other rival gang. If it wouldn’t traumatize Rialta, I would have already blown his brains out. But it’s also the responsible thing to torture him for information before I kill him.
“Get out of the car. Now.”
“Oh-okay.” He’s trembling—the coward. He can rape a woman—hurt her, but he’ll be pissing his pants soon and begging for his life. He can dole out pain but can’t take any. He’s the worst kind of man, and I’ll enjoy making him scream.
I give him room to get out of the car, and it gives me the opportunity to really look at Rialta.
Her dress is hiked up to her waist, and her legs are spread open. I look at her face, trying to comfort her with my eyes, although I don’t do emotion. I’m terrible at consoling anyone.
Her eyes flash wild, and her nostrils flare in a fury I’ve never seen before from her.
Good, she’s going to need that rage to recover from this.
I failed at preventing her pain, but I’m not going to let her suffer a second longer than she needs to. I yank her out of the car, pulling down her dress to cover her as best as I can.
She starts flailing—trying to strike me with her fists and bite me with her teeth.
Fuck, she doesn’t see who I am in the darkness.She doesn’t realize I’m here to save her. That or she’s already so traumatized that she’s still living in the nightmare.
I focus solely on her, not worrying about the boy, who I can easily track and kill after I get her to safety. I ignore the sound of him running down the sidewalk as I wrap my arms around her.
“Get off of me!” she screams, trying to strike me again but failing.
I make a mental note to teach her better self-defense soon. What she’s doing now wouldn’t fight off weak old man, let alone most of the men in our world.
“You’re safe; I’ve got you. It’s Lennox. You’re safe, Rialta.”
“I’m not fucking safe!” She tries to kick me but ends up kicking the car door instead.
I hold her tighter, worried she’s going to hurt herself.