The alley reeked of smoke, wet garbage, and something metallic that turned Mariam's stomach. Adrian's grip on her wrist was unrelenting as he pulled her deeper into the shadows.
"Slow down," she hissed, stumbling over a puddle that swallowed her ankle. Her knees ached from the fall earlier, her lungs burning. "You're hurting me"
"Good." His tone was icy and toneless, like metal gliding over rock. "Pain keeps you awake. Awake keeps you alive."
Her chest tightened at the savage reasoning. Alive. He said it as if living were all that counted in the world, as if all else dignity, volition, even breath could be lost.
She pulled at his grip, but his hand closed around her wrist like iron. "I don't know you," she growled, voice trembling with rage in spite of her struggle. "Why are you"
"Shut up." His head turned, listening.
Her words clogged in her throat.
The sound came then boots squelching on puddles, the crisp metallic click of guns being cocked.
Her blood turned cold.
Adrian's jaw tightened. He yanked her forward until they faced a solid wall at the alley's end.
"This is insane," Mariam gasped. "We're trapped!"
But Adrian shoved his palm against the bricks.
With a low groan, the wall shifted. A hidden door creaked open, spilling dim light into the alley.
Her breath caught. "What… what is this?"
"My world." His eyes cut to hers, hard and unreadable. "Step inside."
"No." Her voice cracked, but she shook her head fiercely. "I'm not going in there."
"Then stay here," he said, voice suddenly sharp as glass. He leaned closer, lips near her ear, his breath hot against her rain-chilled skin. "And watch them paint the wall with your blood."
Her heart hammered. He's bluffing. He has to be bluffing.
But the sound of boots grew louder. Closer.
And she knew he wasn't bluffing one bit.
Her legs moved before her brain even caught up. She stumbled through the door.
Adrian came after, closing it behind them with a bang.
The click of the secret door locking echoed like the lid of a coffin slamming shut.
The corridor was narrow, the ceiling low enough that she stooped. Water dripped perpetually from above, each drop falling with a splat on the cracked cement floor like a metronome measuring off moments to something she couldn't pinpoint.
Her voice cut through the silence. "Where are you taking me?"
Adrian strode steadily, not hastily, though danger nipped at their heels. His coat was damp against him, but he didn't hurry with the swagger of a man who owns the night.
Finally, he said, "To where they won't find you."
Mariam let out a raw laugh that broke half-way to a sob. "And you expect me to believe that? You're a murderer. You murder people like they're dirt.".
His head spun to hers, his glare searing hot enough to reduce things to ashes. "I kill to protect. Don't confuse the two."
"Protect who?" she sneered, curling her arms about herself. "You? Or me?"
The words hung suspended like smoke.
His jaw clenched, but he said nothing. Adrian Kane the Devil himself looked away for the first time.
The silence scared her more than any answer.
They stepped into a huge underground cave. The contrast made her dizzy: concrete walls, metal doors, generators thudding under her feet. Uniformed men stood in silence in the dark, each one of them with a gun strapped over his chest.
The atmosphere was thick with gunpowder, sweat, and the faint sting of whisky.
Mariam's legs froze. Her stomach turned. "Oh my God."
The lone guard stepped closer, squinting at her as if she was some unwanted stray. "Who's she?"
Adrian's reply was icicle-sharp. "Mine."
The single word punched her in the chest, leaving her gasping.
Mine.
As if she wasn't a human being whatsoever. As if she was property.
The guard grinned, but a look at Adrian's eyes made him back away.
Adrian wouldn't give up. He dragged her into a secluded room at the far side of the room.
A nightmare comes to life: dark wood walls seeping with the patina of time, leather chairs smelling of smoke, and a cluttered desk where maps, files, and swords were carelessly tossed. There was but a single lamp, and the shadows darted out like claws.
"Sit," Adrian barked.
"No."
His gaze shifted to hers, and the temperature in the room dropped. "Mariam. You've already discovered what becomes of those who stand in my way. Don't test me again."
Her legs wobbled of their own accord. She fell into the chair.
Adrian leaned his hands on the desk, forearms crossed, staring at her. His eyes were swords, cutting through every one of the thin defenses she tried to build.
"You're asking yourself why they want you dead," he said after a moment.
Her lips parted. "I don't know anything. I'm just… me."
"Wrong." His voice grew darker, low but deadly. "Nobody is just anything. Everybody's got value. Or weakness. You're no exception."
Her throat burned with a surge of tears. "You think I'm some piece in your bloody game? I don't belong here."
"Too late." He pushed off the desk and stalked closer. His shadow fell over her, suffocating. "You stepped into my darkness. Now you'll never get out."
Her chest heaved. "You're insane."
"Maybe." He crouched in front of her, bringing his face inches from hers. His voice lowered to something raw, dangerous. "But tonight you'd be dead without me. That's not insanity, Mariam. That's truth."
Her nails wrinkled her palms as she fought not to cry.
Adrian's hand migrated upward, as if he struggled with himself. Harsh fingers swept a droplet of hair off her cheek. His was a tentative touch, almost awkward, a man unaccustomed to gentleness.
"I'm not sure why you're special to them yet," he breathed. "But until I do,you're still beneath me. My rules. My protection. My chains, if I have to."
She cried. "And if I say no?"
His eyes went malevolent, but his voice cracked, gentler now. "Then you'll die. And don't think I'll stop you. Because I won't."
For a moment, she saw it. The cleft beneath the monster. The human who bled beneath the Devil's face.
And that was more frightening than his threat.
The door slammed open.
One of Adrian's guards stumbled in, blood streaming down his temple.
"They found us!" he gasped. "They're in"
A bullet exploded in the room.
The guard died before he could finish the words, blood spreading at Mariam's feet.
She shrieked.
Adrian was already in motion. He jerked her down, bullets tearing through the walls.
"Down!" he bellowed, firing back automatically.
Her ears were ringing, gunpowder stench choking her throat. She covered her palms over her ears, blinded by tears as Adrian's gunfire crashed out in the cacophony.
She risked a glance at the doorway and froze.
Through the smoke, through the splintered wood, she saw the intruder's face.
Her blood ran cold.
She knew him.
A face she recognized. A voice she had laughed with. Someone who was never supposed to be leaning over her with a gun.
Her scream was trapped in her throat.
Adrian's bellow beside her, but she barely registered it.
Because in that split second, Mariam realized two things:
Adrian Kane was right. She had been hit.
And the enemy was not unknown. It was one of her own people.
There was no going back.