CRAVED: Her Blood, Their War.

hina'

dn't

ra

ugh my throat as I pushed through the back corridor of the G

I d

ft without thinking. My heartbeat was louder than my footsteps. I didn't know what had just ha

heard

ovements. Sharp

was foll

lipping, and ducked into another

ing faster than any human should. One of them til

h

plode. My body was trained for this, sure but not t

and nearly ran into a ch

ic

y's mouth. Another dropped down

remembering it was still brok

est to me st

then

nf

e shot

dro

for a blur to move past them. I di

ci

with mine, col

en me and the second attacker.

t him, che

he hell

t n

him. I didn't resist. Not because I trusted him. Not anymor

eared int

peak for se

He never let go of my wrist. He knew where he was going. I didn't. I just follo

he kind no one visited anymore. We were beneath the surface now, graf

d my ar

ll was that?

his gun and calmly reloaded. Like saving me from

en. S

gun back i

g hunted," h

sh

e moment you steppe

wh

eally think there's only one pe

You show up out of nowhere, save my life, the

said. "That was your first mi

harder than th

my throat and stared at

dn't

urse. You just happened to be nearby wi

l no

f my life and didn't even look back. And now you

ned, but he di

came because if you'd died tonight, a lot of th

ruth or at least, e

still pounding. My ha

I'm just a l

Still unreadable. "You've always bee

walked into

eth clenched, wonderi

want to f

o put distance between us, to protect what was lef

iliar. Or maybe it was because I knew he was sti

nel, silent but certain. Mine tr

oice low. "

't stop

"If you know anything... if the pe

who's lost something,"

beside him. "I'm not asking fo

ally s

ng to the walls. Somewhere above

aphina," he said without emotion.

ove. "Then

nge. But there was someth

ed again and

und our footsteps echoing against cracked tile and old steel. My pul

't tru

need

up to the street. Faint light flickered overhead. He turned

said quietly. "But t

look away

. When I call it in, you pa

htened, but

st me, back i

a deal with the one person