Page 56 of His Ruthless Match (Below #3)

I grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away from the men. “Genevieve, it’s me. We need to go.”

She didn’t respond. Her eyes were glassy, unfocused, and her body moved as if on autopilot, completely unresponsive to my touch.

“Genevieve,” I said louder, shaking her slightly. “Snap out of it!” Still nothing. Panic clawed at me as I turned to Jareth. “She’s not… she’s not herself. What do we do?”

Jareth’s expression was grim as he placed a firm hand on Genevieve’s other arm. “We’re getting her out of here. Now.”

As we began to lead her toward the exit, a chill ran down my spine. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being watched.

I glanced over my shoulder and locked eyes with a figure standing in the shadows near the bar. Their face was obscured, but their intent was clear. They were watching us.

My fingers clenched tighter around Genevieve’s arm as we pushed through the pulsing crowd of bodies.

The bass thumped in my chest, rattling through my ribs.

Genevieve stumbled, her weight sagging against me, her movements slack and robotic.

The blank look in her eyes sent a fresh jolt of panic straight through me.

We’d only moved a few feet in the past two minutes. Genevieve was dead weight, and she refused to acknowledge my existence.

“We need to leave. Now,” Jareth yelled over the blaring music.

The urgency in his voice made me freeze. There was real fear in his eyes.

“I’m not leaving without Genevieve.”

His jaw tightened, his eyes locking onto mine. “Eva, you don’t understand. This isn’t about her anymore. You’re in danger. You need to trust me and get the fuck out of here.”

“I said I’m not leaving her,” I snapped, my grip on Genevieve’s limp arm tightening. She barely reacted, her glassy eyes fixed on some invisible point in the distance.

Jareth exhaled sharply, his frustration radiating off him in waves. Without another word, he shrugged off his jacket and threw it over Genevieve’s head, obscuring her face.

“Fine,” he growled. “But you stay right by my side. No exceptions.”

I nodded, my pulse racing as I followed him through the throng of sweating bodies.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Jareth’s eyes flickered toward the edges of the room, scanning the shadows. “Vampires. Three of them. And they’re here for you.”

The words sent a chill down my spine, my legs nearly faltering. “For me? Why?”

“I’ll explain later,” he growled, his tone brooking no argument. “Right now, focus on keeping up.”

I swallowed hard, forcing my feet to move. Genevieve’s weight was like a lead anchor dragging me down, but I refused to let go. My heart pounded harder with every step, the air in the club feeling too thick, too oppressive.

Finally, we reached the back door. Jareth shoved it open, ushering us outside. The alley was dark and damp and smelled of rotting garbage. Relief flooded me, but then I heard footsteps.

Jareth froze.

Every line of his body went taut, sharp as drawn wire.

Without a word, he stepped in front of me, his broad shoulders eclipsing my view.

One hand gripped Genevieve’s arm tightly, the other drifted toward his back pocket and the blade he kept there.

The blade he only reached for when he was done playing nice.

From the shadows, three figures emerged.

Men, at first glance. But their movements betrayed something far older and far less human. Too smooth. Too confident. As if they already knew how this would end.

Their faces were bloodless, almost waxy, but it was their eyes that made my stomach clench. Flat, gleaming things. Eyes that didn’t blink. Eyes that looked through you.

“Well, well, well,” the tallest one drawled. “Looks like we found her.”

I knew who the her was he was speaking about. My breath caught in my throat as all three sets of eyes locked on me.

Not Jareth. Not Genevieve.

Me .

I took a step back. The pavement tilted beneath my feet. My fingers brushed against the alley wall for balance, but even stone felt unsteady under my touch.

Jareth didn’t move. Didn’t flinch. He stepped forward, shoulders wide, legs planted, every inch the soldier.

“You picked the wrong fucking woman,” he said, voice low and deadly.

The lead vampire’s lips peeled into a too-wide smile. “We’ll see about that.”

They moved first.

No warning. No sound.

Just a blur.

The one on the left lunged for me, and for a split second, I saw fangs. Jagged and yellow, too long for a mouth that size.

I wasn’t fast enough to run from them.

Jareth slammed into him mid-air. I didn’t even see his movement. One moment he was beside me, the next he had his hands around the vampire’s throat, twisting until bone and muscle gave way with a wet, ripping snap.

The body dropped.

And then everything unraveled.

The second vampire came for me.

He was smaller and quicker. He darted past the fight like smoke, fingers outstretched, nails curled into claws. I stumbled back with a strangled gasp, reaching blindly behind me for anything to use—brick, pipe, hell, even a trash lid—but there was nothing.

Just the cold certainty that I wasn’t getting away.

His hand closed around my wrist.

I screamed.

The sound barely left my throat before Jareth barreled into us, shifting mid-leap in a ripple of shadow and muscle. One second, man. The next, a sleek black cougar, eyes glowing like embers, tore the vampire off me.

Blood sprayed across my jacket as he sank his jaws into the creature’s chest. I couldn’t look away. Couldn’t breathe. The sound of crunching bone and wet snarls filled the alley like something out of a nightmare.

He didn’t stop until the body stopped twitching.

My back hit the wall. I slid down, knees giving out as I panted for air. My wrist throbbed where the vampire had grabbed me. Hot, sharp pain spread like fire under my skin. I looked down.

Blood.

My blood.

The third vampire hesitated.

He’d seen the others die. He should’ve run. I think he wanted to. But his eyes flicked to me, and he made the wrong call.

He lunged.

I braced myself. Tried to duck. But I was too slow.

Too human. He was so fast. Faster than Jareth, but not as lethal.

He was almost on me. Too fast, too close.

I scrambled, legs useless beneath me, hands sliding on the dirty pavement as I tried to crawl away, but he was already towering over me, eyes glowing like coals in a skull too tight with hunger.

He grabbed my shoulder.

I screamed and kicked, but he was inhumanly strong, and then his knee was pressing into my thigh, pinning me in place as he leaned in.

I could smell him.

Old blood. Metal. Something rotting.

His mouth lowered toward my neck.

I twisted, shoving at him with every ounce of strength I had, but it barely moved him.

“Don’t,” I gasped.

His lips brushed my skin.

Cold.

I felt the edge of a fang graze my throat, just a tease, like he wanted to savor the fear first.

I was going to die.

Then Jareth hit him like a fucking freight train.

The impact sounded like a car crash. One second, I was pinned beneath a monster, the next, that monster was flying through the air and slamming into the pavement with a crack that made my ears ring.

Stone fractured under the force.

The vampire screamed and writhed as Jareth lunged, but he didn’t go down easily. He was smarter than his cronies, more desperate. He rolled fast, claws slicing through the air, catching Jareth across the ribs.

Blood arced through the air.

Jareth snarled, eyes glowing. A low growl reverberated in the air like thunder as he circled the vampire.

They clashed.

Snarling. Slashing. Blood-slick limbs crashing against brick walls and concrete. The vampire ducked, dodged, and rolled, but Jareth matched every move with brutal precision, claws dragging furrows down the creature’s back, teeth snapping just short of his throat.

And then the vampire turned and ran at me again.

“No!” I screamed, scrambling back.

Jareth pounced again, slamming the creature into the ground just feet from where I lay.

This time, he didn’t let go. One clawed paw crushed the vampire’s chest, the other pinned his shoulder down.

I could see the vampire’s fangs snapping, snarling, his mouth flecked with blood.

He bucked violently, nearly throwing Jareth off.

But Jareth held.

He leaned in, face-to-face

with the thing, a low, vicious growl emanating from him as his claws dug in deeper.

Flesh tore.

The vampire shrieked and thrashed again, but he wasn’t getting up.

Not this time.

I blinked, and Jareth was human again. Bleeding. Furious.

And in total control.

He pulled a flask out of his jacket pocket and twisted the cap off. Liquid sloshed inside. It smelled like kerosene.

Jareth poured it over the vampire’s chest.

The creature awoke and shrieked, smoke rising as the liquid hissed against his skin. He thrashed until Jareth struck a match and dropped it without a word.

Flames roared to life.

The body lit like dry paper, curling inward as the fire consumed it. I looked away, bile rising in my throat.

Jareth straightened slowly, his chest heaving, every breath ragged like he’d run through fire. Blood streaked his arms. His arm was cut, his jaw bruised. But none of that mattered to him.

Because when his eyes found me, they were wide, raw, and unguarded.

He dropped to his knees in front of me so fast it startled me. His hands were still stained red and shaking as he cupped my face like he was afraid I might vanish.

“Eva,” he rasped my name like a prayer he wasn’t sure had been answered.

“I’m fine.” My voice broke. “I’m okay.”

But my hands were trembling, and I couldn’t seem to stop.

His thumbs swept across my cheeks like he was memorizing the shape of my skin. “You’re not fine,” he said. “You’re bleeding.”

He tilted my chin gently, eyes scanning my throat. I hadn’t even felt the scratch there until he sucked in a sharp breath.

His jaw locked.

“Did he bite you?”

“No,” I whispered. “He didn’t get the chance.”

His eyes closed for a second, just long enough for me to feel the depth of his relief. Then they snapped open again, sharper, almost wild.

“Where else?” he asked. “Tell me where it hurts.”

I shook my head, but he was already sliding his hands down my shoulders and arms. His fingers brushed the scrape on my wrist, and he hissed under his breath.

“Shit, Eva. I’m sorry I wasn’t fast enough.”

“Yes, you were, Jareth. You saved me.”

He looked up at me, and for the briefest moment, the mask cracked. The fear he usually buried behind sarcasm and snark flickered to the surface.

“I saw his mouth on your neck.” His voice was barely audible. “If I’d been two seconds slower?—”

“You weren’t.”

I touched his face, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead. The care radiating off him made my eyes burn.

“You’re safe now,” he murmured against my skin.

When he pulled back, I could still see the tension in his shoulders, and his hands hovered like he wasn’t quite ready to let go.

I let out a shaky breath. “What about you?”

His mouth twitched, not quite a smile. “I’m not the one who almost got eaten.”

I glanced at the deep claw marks along his ribs, the ugly bruise forming under his collarbone. “You’re hurt.”

“I’ve had worse,” he said, but this time there was no bravado behind it. Just weariness. Worry.

His gaze swept the alley one last time, then returned to me.

“Let’s get out of here,” he said, voice low and firm. “Before I lose my mind.”

He helped me up like I was made of something precious. And maybe to him, in that moment, I was.

The alley reeked of ash and burned flesh.

I didn’t know what scared me more. The fact that I’d nearly died, or that he’d made it look so easy to kill for me.

I forced myself to look away, focusing instead on Genevieve. She was still standing there, her body slack, her face completely blank. The sight sent a fresh wave of unease crashing over me.

“Something’s really wrong with her,” I murmured, my voice shaking. “She didn’t even react. That’s not her.”

He pressed a kiss to my forehead, his lips warm against my clammy skin. Then he took Genevieve’s arm again, guiding her toward the alley’s exit with me close behind. As we stepped out onto the street, I couldn’t help but glance back at the flickering flames.

Jareth walked beside me, his hand brushing against mine as if to remind me he was still there. I stole a glance at him, his usual cocky smirk replaced with a determined scowl. I was utterly fucked.

Because God help me, I was completely smitten with this man.