Page 27 of Queen of Ruin

“I’m right here,” comes a distant, weak voice, and suddenly, the vise grip around my throat completely vanishes.

I fall to my knees with a gasp, coughing and retching while every drag of air past my lips burns all the way down my throat. Barely able to keep my eyes open, I still lift my head and gaze through the darkness clouding my vision.

Amber’s here.

How did she get here? What the—ohmygod!

She’s on his shoulders with her legs wrapped around his head and her hands clawing at his face. He stumbles backward with a cry and collides with the kitchen worktop. Amber grips his hair and wrenches his head back while throwing herself backward, but she doesn’t loosen her thigh-grip on his head. Knocked off balance, Clark twists backward and collapses in an arc, hitting the ground with a sharp crack. Amber springs off his shoulders before he lands, rolling when she hits the ground and then scrambling back onto her feet.

A violent, swift kick to the face sends Clark’s head bouncing against the fridge and he slumps down into a pile, silent and unconscious.

I barely believe what I’ve just witnessed, and once I’m certain Clark isn’t getting back up, I dissolve back into coughing and gasping.

“Diego!” Amber’s suddenly in front of me, cradling my face with both hands. “Are you okay?”

“Me?” I cough, gradually getting my breath back. “What about you?! What the hell was that?!”

“I…” She glances over her shoulder at Clark on the ground. “I-I don’t know.”

For a single second, everything is blissful. I’m breathing again, Amber’s cupping my face with both her soft hands, and she looks rather beautiful with her hair caught on her shoulder and gathered in the hood of her hoodie.

My hoodie.

That second fades when she looks back at me with wide, shocked eyes. “I came in and saw him hurting you and it-it was like something took over, instinct or something. I just knew what to do and then I was doing it and before I could think about it, it was over.”

“Well,” I gasp wetly. “I don’t know where you learned to do something like that, but holy shit, that was hot.” Watching her take down a man almost double her size? Knowing she has that capability should be terrifying, but I’ve never been more glad I drove when she told me to.

Her shocked expression warms slightly and she lets out a strained, weak laugh, then seems to remember that she’s still cupping my cheeks and draws her hands away. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yup,” I croak hoarsely, bracing against the wall and climbing to my feet. “I’m fine.”

She holds out her hand to me and captures my gaze instantly, holding me there with those gorgeous eyes of hers. “We should go,” she says quickly.

I’ve never agreed so quickly in my life and I slide my hand firmly into hers.

11

VALENTINA

Dark streets rush past as the bus Diego’s dragged me onto weaves through the night like a rattling bucket of bolts. Every pothole in the road makes the windows and seats shudder as if they’re seconds from falling apart, and a stale scent of something sour lingers in the air.

We’re seated near the back with only a few other passengers scattered near the front, giving us a weak blanket of privacy.

“Are you okay?” Diego’s a tall, broad man, so seeing him nearly strangled to death like he weighed nothing was alarming.

“Fine.” Diego waves me off with a rough scrape of his voice, then he winces and swallows. “I’m more concerned about you.”

“Me?” My eyes widen and drop to the shadows forming around his throat. “I’m fine. You were…” I shake my head. “I was so scared you were going to die.”

“Is that why you did the…” He waves his hands suddenly and winces again. “I’ve never seen anything like that in real life before. He was almost twice your size and you just…” He puffs out his cheeks and whistles. “Don’t get me wrong, it was incredible, but should I be scared that one wrong move will put me on the receiving end of those killer thighs?”

Despite the wariness in his words, there’s an interesting glint in his eyes as if he wouldn’t mind such a thing at all.

“I don’t know.” Coldness seeps down my arms so I huddle in my seat and press my hands between my thighs for warmth. “Something just came over me and clicked when I saw you like that. I wanted to help you, and the next thing I knew, it was already over, and he was on the ground.”

Diego nods slowly, then winces as a particularly deep pothole rattles through us. After a moment of heavy silence, he slides his arm around my shoulders and pulls me close to his chest.

“You shouldn’t have come out without a coat,” he murmurs. “You’ll catch your death in this state.”