Page 81 of Thane's Demon
ALORA
Ikept replaying the moment in the apartment, the one that felt both impossible and terrifyingly real. The moment his hand closed around my father’s raised arm, stopping it mid-swing as if the world itself froze at his command. The moment he stepped between us like a living shield that no force could move. The moment his voice lowered into that deep, resonant warning, I felt every part of my chest ache with relief.
He had saved me.
Again.
Even after seeing what he was, even after watching him become something no human could ever be. Here I was walking beside him with my hand in his. I should have run from him, should have kept running, yet the moment his fingers laced with mine, the trembling in my body began to settle. It was the same hand that had destroyed those men in seconds. The same hand that had held my father's in unbreakable restraint, but its grip around mine was steady and almost tender.
The street was too quiet, as if it sensed we were not to be disturbed. I tried to focus on the way the cool air brushed againstmy face, the way the pavement felt steady beneath my feet. Anything to calm the frantic beat of my heart. Every few steps, I caught myself stealing glances at him, trying to merge the man and the monster. The protector and the threat, the warmth he gave me and the fear he had ignited.
I listened to the conversation he had on the phone with someone I assumed was Janie. But my panic really started to grow when the mention of the plane and the word home made me realize that I knew nothing about him. He had told me he had no family to speak of, but now I questioned that.
A sleek black car turned the corner and stopped beside us moments later. Its tinted windows glimmered beneath the streetlights. My steps faltered, hesitation clawing up my spine. I pulled slightly at his hand, unsure whether I should climb into a stranger’s car, unsure whether I should trust him now that I knew how dangerous he truly was.
I was so confused.
He felt the hesitation immediately, making him turn toward me. He lowered his head so his breath brushed my ear, and his voice slipped into a tone so dark and soft it unraveled every argument I had.
“Remember what I said, Alora,” he murmured, each word curling through my chest like a slow burn.
“Now be a good girl and get in the car.”
A shiver ran through me before I could stop it. His command was quiet, barely more than a whisper, but there was no defying it. My body moved before my mind caught up, and I climbed into the back seat. He followed close behind, shutting the door with a gentleness that contradicted everything he had done tonight.
The car pulled away from the curb, weaving through the dimly lit streets of Shanghai. I kept my gaze on him, watching the flicker of streetlights glide across his features, illuminating the hard line of his jaw. There was a faint glow of somethinginhuman simmering beneath his skin. I did not know what to say, and when words finally found me, they came out small and breathless.
“Where are you taking me?”
“Somewhere safe,” he answered without looking at me, his voice firm enough to end most conversations but not mine.
“What about your home… is it in Germany?” I asked quietly.
“Not now,” he replied, still refusing to meet my eyes. “This is not the time.”
“But you said you would explain. You said you would tell me what I am running from or who I am running with.”
He inhaled sharply, the muscle in his cheek tightening as if my words struck somewhere he did not want touched.
“Not now, Alora.”
The finality in his tone silenced me. I sank back into the seat, folding my hands in my lap, trying not to let the fear and confusion choke me. I watched him instead, trying to understand him, trying to decide if I should be afraid or relieved, trying to reconcile the warmth in his touch with the monster I had seen in his eyes.
The drive stretched in heavy, uneasy silence. It was not until the car slowed and the glow of enormous hangar lights flashed across the windows that my breath hitched. We pulled up beside a sleek private plane, its engine humming softly, its metal gleaming under the fluorescent glow. My entire body went rigid.
“No,”I whispered as panic crashed into me.
“No, Thane, I can’t… I am not getting on a plane, I cannot leave like this.” The car door opened before he could reply. I scrambled out, stumbling backward onto the tarmac. My heart raced painfully in my chest, the cold night air slicing into my lungs as I tried to make sense of what was happening. Leaving Shanghai felt too big, too permanent, too impossible. Everything inside me screamed to run.
So I did.
I turned and sprinted across the concrete, my shoes slapping against the ground, my breath shaking, my pulse roaring in my ears. The plane lights blurred as I ran for the nearest hangar, anywhere I could find someone as I shouted out,
“Someone! Help!”
It did not matter.
He caught me in seconds. His large hand covering the lower half of my face, stopping me before my pleas turned to screams of terror.
