Damien!!...
Damien turned, quick as lightning, his hand shooting out to grab the wrist of the hooded man. Metal flashed as the knife caught the light, but Damien twisted with effortless precision, and the blade clattered to the ground. The sound of it against the wet pavement was sharp and final, but the moment was not over.
The man in the hood struggled, jerking against Damien's grip, but it was useless. Damien moved like a predator, controlled and certain, his body shielding me as if I were a part of the storm he refused to let touch him. In seconds, the man was on his knees, his arm bent painfully behind his back, his face pressed into the ground.
"Who sent you?" Damien's voice was low and dangerous, cutting through the roar of rain.
The man groaned but didn't answer.
Ethan stepped forward then, his polished shoes splashing in the puddles, his expression carved from steel. His eyes flicked to me for the briefest second, then returned to Damien and the attacker. His voice was sharp. "Let him up. I'll handle this."
Damien didn't move. His grip stayed firm, his posture radiating control. "This isn't your territory, Ethan."
Territory. The word twisted in my mind, unfamiliar and frightening. What did it mean?
The man on the ground spat out a laugh, broken by the weight of Damien's hold. "You're both fools," he hissed. "She doesn't even know."
A chill crawled down my spine. My voice shook when I spoke. "Doesn't know what?"
Neither Damien nor Ethan answered. Their silence was heavier than the storm, pressing into my chest until I could hardly breathe.
Damien's hand tightened, forcing the hooded man's face closer to the ground. "Who sent you?" he demanded again.
The man's laughter turned into a cough, wet and rattling, but his words came out clear. "Ask Ethan. He knows."
My eyes shot to Ethan. His jaw ticked, a muscle feathering as though he was holding back a hundred things he wanted to say but couldn't.
Damien's gaze slid toward him, sharp and calculating. "So it's true," he murmured.
"Enough." Ethan's voice was a whip. "Savannah, get in the car. Now."
I shook my head, the rain plastering my hair to my face. My body trembled, but not from the cold. From something deeper, something like fear curling into my bones. "No. Not until someone tells me what's going on."
The hooded man let out another strained laugh. "She's already caught in between and doesn't even realize she's the bait."
My stomach dropped. "Bait?"
Damien moved faster than I could follow. A single, precise strike to the man's temple, and he slumped unconscious onto the wet pavement. The sudden stillness was worse than the struggle.
The street was quiet except for the rain. My breath came shallow, uneven. My eyes darted between Damien and Ethan, two men who stood like stone pillars in the storm, unshaken, unreadable.
Damien rose to his full height, his hand brushing rain from his sleeve as if the fight hadn't even happened. His eyes locked onto mine, steady, consuming. "You're not safe out here."
Ethan stepped closer, his tone cutting through the space between us. "You're coming with me, Savannah."
My voice cracked when I finally spoke. "Safe from what? Bait for who?"
Neither answered.
The silence stayed around me like a noose.
Damien's hand extended, palm open, not soft but commanding. "You stay with me. I'll keep the wolves away."
Ethan's eyes narrowed, his control slipping into a something darker. "Don't touch her. Savannah, you know me. Get in the car."
I wanted to scream. I wanted to demand the truth, but the words tangled in my throat. My heart pounded so hard it hurt, beating against my ribs like it wanted out. I felt the weight of something far bigger than betrayal, bigger than heartbreak. A game I hadn't agreed to play but was already trapped inside.
I took a step back, the rain swallowing me whole. "Both of you—stop."
Ethan's voice hardened. "Savannah."
Damien's voice dropped lower, sharper. "Choose."
The sound of sirens cut through the storm, faint but growing closer. Red and blue lights blurred against the wet pavement at the far end of the street.
My breath caught.
The unconscious man. The knife. The two most dangerous men I had ever known standing inches from each other.
And me.
The sirens wailed louder, closing in, and I knew in one sharp, dizzy moment that whatever happened next would decide everything.
The police cars turned the corner, lights flashing, tires splashing water.
Damien's eyes burned into mine. Ethan's voice sliced through the storm.
And I...
I had one second to decide whose side I was on.