Page 75 of Thane's Demon
My breath left me. Every instinct I possessed screamed that I needed to run.
Thane took a step toward me, and the floor groaned beneath the weight of his altered form, but I was already moving, my body reacting faster than my thoughts could follow. I stumbled toward the hallway, nearly slipping on spilled blood, but I forced my legs to move, to keep going, to get as far from that room as possible.
I heard the roar of fury coming from behind me, followed by the sounds of broken glass before the sounds of violence continued to echo from the room I just left. As if a new team of men had just entered through the windows.
I fled down the stairs, each loud impact driving me faster. I burst out onto the street and kept running, pushing through the night air until the cold burned my lungs.
I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. My legs carried me on instinct, along the winding routes I had memorized since arriving in Shanghai. My heart pounded with terror as I cut through alleys and crossed busy streets, weaving through crowds until the familiar shape of my apartment building came into view.
I acted on panic, needing to get to the only place I knew. I would grab my things, pack a bag and anything of value I could sell. I needed to get far from here. Far from the man I thought I knew. My body was on autopilot, getting into the elevator and half expecting to see his strong hand slicing in between the closing door. My breath left me in utter relief when it didn’t happen. I made it to my door, unlocked it, and ran straight to my room.
My manic thoughts were constantly going back to what I saw in him. Not the man who held me gently. Not the man whowhispered that he would protect me. Not the man whose arms made me feel safe.
But to the truth buried beneath his skin.
I had seen the monster.
And yet, in the midst of my fear, another thought crept in, unwelcome and painful. I had left him behind. Alone. Surrounded by men who wanted to kill him. Fighting because of me. Fighting for me. And even though fear still coursed through my veins, settling cold and heavy in my chest, I couldn’t stop the twisting ache that followed.
What if he didn’t survive the battle I had run from?
What if he bled and fell because I left him?
What if I had abandoned the only person who had chosen to protect me? To care enough about me to fight for my life.
My tears dripped onto my bedroom floor as that thought took root, breaking something deep inside me.
I sat on my bed longer than I meant to, my body curled in on itself as though I could physically protect the parts of me that felt most exposed. My breath came unevenly, my chest aching with each trembling inhale. And for several minutes, I could do nothing but press my forehead to my knees and try to steady a heart that felt too bruised to keep beating.
The apartment around me was silent, that tense silence that always lingered here, the kind that seeped into the walls and turned everything cold. I hated it. I hated how the quiet here meant I had nowhere to hide my fear, nowhere to bury it beneath noise or distraction.
Eventually, I forced myself to stand, my legs unsteady beneath me. My hands moved before my thoughts caught up. I crossed the room and pulled out a large duffel bag I had folded in my closet. I set it on the bed and unzipped it, the sound loud in the quiet room, and began stuffing inside whatever I could grab with trembling fingers. A few clothes, my toothbrush, the smallbox with the last letter from my mother, the diary that held every emotion I never dared speak aloud, the tiny photo that always sat in my mirror’s corner.
My breath shook as I packed, the memory of Thane’s monstrous form flashing behind my eyelids like lightning. But the memory of him standing between me and danger, of him holding me protectively, of him touching my cheek with surprising gentleness, tangled painfully with fear.
Everything in me felt torn, as if two halves of my mind fought for control. One half screamed to run further, to hide, to get as far from him as possible. The other whispered that I left him alone, that he had been fighting because of me, that maybe he was lying injured in that apartment, or worse.
A tear fell onto the shirt I was folding. I wiped it away quickly and shoved the fabric into the bag. I couldn’t think about him now. I couldn’t let myself feel anything for the man who turned into a demon before my eyes. I had to focus on leaving before anyone here realized I had returned.
I zipped the bag shut and slung the strap over my shoulder. The weight of it pulled at my muscles, grounding me for only a moment before the panic surged again. I moved quietly through the apartment, each step careful and measured as I clutched the small bag to my chest.
It was late, so I knew everyone else was asleep. Or so I thought. The living room lights were off, the apartment silent, and the only glow came from the city spilling through the tall windows like cold, distant fire. I hesitated for a moment, glancing to where my father’s bedroom door was. I had made it past it once when getting inside, I just hoped I managed it again without waking him.
So I slipped toward the front door, holding my breath every time the floorboards creaked. If I could make it out into the hallway, if I could reach the elevator or the emergency stairs, Icould disappear into the city before anyone realized I was gone. I needed to get away. I needed to think. I needed distance from the monster I had just run from… and from the feelings I was terrified still lived inside me.
My hand closed around the doorknob.
I began to turn it.
And that was when the sharp thunder of footsteps hit the hardwood behind me, followed by the sudden flare of the hallway light.
“Alora!”
I froze.
My father’s frame filled the entryway, the tie of his silk robe hanging loose, his hair disheveled with sleep, but his eyes blazed with fury so sharp it felt like a blade pressed to my spine. He must have heard me moving through the apartment. Or perhaps my attempt at silence was never truly silent at all.
“What do you think you are doing?!” he demanded, his voice low but shaking with a restrained rage that made my stomach clench. “Do you have any idea what time it is? Why are you dressed? Why are you holding a bag?!”
