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Zalen reached the kids who’d dragged Emiel here. I was only a few steps behind.
“It’s okay. We’re his pack,” Zalen said. “We’re here to take him home.”
And... yeah. I could hardly wait to see howthatwas gonna go. I hadn’t been kidding earlier today about the butterfly net.
“’Bout fuckin’ time,” said the one who’d nearly gone sprawling. He dusted himself off with an air of disgust. “Brotha’s been here since Friday, man. He’s fighting in the cage once, twice every night. Haven’t seen him eat so much as a fuckin’ Cheeto the whole time.”
One of the others cautiously came up to join them. “SSG’s been throwing their hardest fighters at him all weekend. Guess he beat the shit outta a couple of their boys a few weeks back.”
Terrific.
Zalen probably would have reminded me that Emiel had been protecting Luca and Mia at the time. Whereas I was more focused on the fact that Luca and Mia wouldn’t have been in harm’s way to begin with if the asshole hadn’t decided to chase his demons into this hellhole.
A low, warning growl came from the shadows.
“You wanna be careful, man,” said the first kid. “He’s off his meds or some shit.”
Too bad we couldn’t have brought along some handy elephant tranquilizers.
“We’ll take care of him,” Zalen told him, as though it was going to be that simple. “Maybe give us some space, though?”
The three kids looked at each other and shrugged. “It’s your funeral, boss,” said the one Emiel had shoved away.
I waited until they’d disappeared out of earshot and turned to Zalen. “What makes you think he isn’t going to rip your head off your shoulders if you try to get close to him?”
“What are we going to do? Leave him here?” Zalen shot back.
I wanted to point out exactly how much that wasn’t an answer to my question. But Zalen had already stepped into the shadows.
“Emiel, it’s time to go home,” he said. “Come on. Up you get. Byron’s here, too.”
Whether it was the mention of my name or Zalen reaching a hand down to him, I wasn’t sure—but my adrenaline spiked an instant later when the hunched form surged upright, grabbing Zalen and slamming him into the nearest crumbling concrete support post.
I twitched forward, my fists clenching at my side—even as the cowardice that had become my middle name ever since my entire gang got mowed down in an alley reared its familiar, ugly head. Seriously, what the hell was I going to do? Attack a guy who fought in no-holds-barred cage fights for fun?
My heart thudded in my throat, and god only knew what my scent was doing. But Zalen only held his hands up by his shoulders, non-threatening, as Emiel pinned him to the post with two bruised and bloody fists wrapped in the front of his hoodie.
“Oh, good. Guess that means you can walk, then.” Zalen sounded like he was discussing the weather, and I hadno fucking cluehow he managed shit like that when I was over here about to have a panic attack.
“Leave. Me.Alone,” Emiel said, the words mostly a snarl.
“No can do,” Zalen told him. “First, Mia wants to talk to you so she can tell you in person that everything’s okay. And second, Princess is almost out of cat food.”
Silence fell for the space of a heartbeat. Then Emiel made a wrenching, pained noise and shoved away from Zalen. His back hit the peeling paint of the wall. He slid down it, burying his face in his hands.
I stood frozen—the low, animal noise of pain coming from the crumpled form twisting something in my stomach like a knife. As much as I wished I didn’t, I knew all too well what rock bottom looked like. I’d been there, and it looked an awful lot likethis.
“Byron.” I jolted out of my paralysis just in time to catch the keys that arced toward me. “Get the car and park it as close as you can to the side entrance. I don’t want to take him back through the newspaper building.”
I hesitated, not wanting to leave him alone in here with a bunch of unfamiliar and dangerous alphas, especially with Emielstill losing his shit. Except, of course, for the detestable, fucked up part of me that absolutely, one hundred percentdidwant to get out of this place as fast as humanly possible.
“Go,” Zalen said.
I curled my fingers around the keychain and went.
Zalen’s SUV was still where we’d left it, and it still had all four wheels attached. I adjusted the mirrors and started the engine, my nerves jangling as I drove around the block, looking for access to the small side door on the old twelve-story building. Somehow, during that time Zalen had gotten our battered packmate on his feet and steered him outside.
The fight had gone out of Emiel, and he didn’t protest or resist as Zalen bundled him into the back seat and climbed in after him.