Page 6 of Protect Me
Still, I don’t want to think about what will happen to her if she can’t perform in three days. D might have shown mercy for now, but he won’t break his word. If this girl can’t wow him, he’ll put her back on the street in a heartbeat.
What will happen to her then?
And why the fuck do I care?
Uma arrives just as we pass back through the Big Top. Her dark hair is braided back as usual, and the cloak she wears is a deep violet that nearly matches the shade of her eyes today. They change with her mood, which is incredibly helpful when you’re dealing with a powerful witch who could level this entire place with one pissed-off afternoon.
“Fuck, she looks horrible,” she comments as she reaches into the bag she carries and withdraws a vial to draw Helen’s blood.
“What is that for?” Helen asks, her voice barely above a whisper.
“The wards,” Uma replies as she wipes the newcomer’s arm with a sterilizing pad and slides the needle into her skin. Helen doesn’t even flinch, likely because, compared to what she must already be feeling, a blood draw is nothing. “This will allow you inside them where it’s safe. No one else can touch you here,” Uma adds, eyes flicking to the damage someone has done to her.
“Thank—” The woman’s eyes roll back in her head, and she loses consciousness.
“You already call Adaya?” Uma questions.
“D did.”
She nods and puts a cap on the vial. “Liv’s old apartment,” she tells me. “Give me a few, and I’ll get the wards altered to include her.”
“Thank you.”
Uma turns on her heel and rushes upstairs toward the apartments at the back of the Big Top. They’re the only ones that are inhabitable, and they serve as the homes of every performer under contract here.
“Do you think it was a random attack?” Killian questions.
“Doubtful,” I tell them as I study her body barely covered by a man’s dress shirt. “She knew her attacker.”
“What makes you think that? No Man’s Land is a cesspool of fuckers doing what they want at others’ expense,” Bracken replies.
“She’s seeking asylum here,” I remind them. “Which means whoever is hunting her won’t stop. A random attacker would move on.”
“Are we going to have another Ernesto situation?” Killian questions, referring to Liv’s psychotic ex.
“Let’s hope not,” I reply. “It’s been long enough. Let’s get her settled before Adaya arrives.”
“I’m heading back down,” Killian says. “Going to try to get a beat on those fuckers.”
“We’ll be down as soon as she’s settled,” I tell him.
“Sounds good. I’ll try not to have too much fun without you assholes.” He winks then turns and jogs back through the Big Top.
Holding Helen in my arms, I cross the boundary and into the apartments. Since it’s warded for the performers’ protection, only those whose blood has been included in the spell can pass through undetected.
We reach Liv’s old apartment, and Bracken moves around to open the door for us. My lion surges to the surface, desperate to get free so he can hunt. I shove him back down momentarily even though I cannot wait to let him free the moment I get a chance.
We will hunt.
And when we find these assholes, they will be shown no mercy.
Bracken flips on the light, illuminating the small apartment consisting of a twin bed, a vanity, a chest of drawers, and a tiny nook kitchen that serves no culinary purpose. It may not be much, but thanks to the wards, she’ll be safe from whatever hunts her.
And although the Big Top is not protected by the same wards, we’ll be there for her performances, watching and ensuring all those under the protection of this circus stay safe.
I set her down on the bed, gently, though she groans in pain all the same. Then, I step back and study the rest of her. She’s dressed in barely anything—a man’s dress shirt that looks haphazardly buttoned as though she did it in the dark. Or in a hurry. The beast inside me snarls at the sight of her in a man’s clothing. The reaction takes me by surprise, but I dismiss it as she whimpers. Her eyes flutter open, and she stares up at me.
My attention returns to her body. Her legs are bare and torn to fucking shit, her feet, too.