I

at closes up. The world begins to blacken at the edges l

ds. Not with a bang,

as he appeared, th

he fray. I swear I'm h

rrupting s

m positive I'm right. This man is a g

my attacker. All I can see is the thick swell o

u?" My attacker snee

ur hands from your arms if you to

up from where the god threw him to the ground, I see him stumble. He's d

I di

t do an

'm surprised the rain on my skin does

n distaste before he hunches against the rain and scampers

ick. I press a hand to my chest and

you h

Black-ink tattoos slip out of the ends of his rolled-up shirt sleeves to wrap around his wrists. Sixty seconds ago, I wo

y. Even in the dark, his blue eyes

inned

o, I'm okay. He didn't-You got here just in time. Nothing happened." I roll my shoulders.

" the ma

at him, a frown wor

ou shouldn't be wandering down dark alleys in the

what he's saying. And how he's saying

t's just after eight. The storm is m

nd you don't have a weapon. If you'd spent half a fucking second observing your surroundings, you wou

g back redoubles and charges at

g too hard to

across the str

ort. "No wonder. What are you, a werewolf or som

seconds with something like amusement. Then his full

t of assholes wandering ar

to save you from them." He

that, I'm

hill that goes far beyond skin deep, and b

hell just

I

wered, in clean pajamas, and eating the frozen pizza I promised myself, but mentally, I

ip

s of my phone makes me jump. A dribble of grease

elle. You ma

hone," my best friend retorts. "You should b

ipe my fingers on a paper towel. "I'm not stuffin

ged parent outside of your job! I'

when you say it

ind's eye. There was nothing simple about him. He

a knight in

sheer frustration. "Move your camera. What's the

een this entire chat," I point

ht, so your situations aren't exact

best friends. Then again, Noelle is scary. If I don't do what she says no

one, giving her an ar

ithout missing a beat. "And i

sh, "that's

he sauce off with my forearm. "I'm fine, okay? The guy was drunk a

to pop. "Who cares about his week? What

rrect. "He didn'

came along and shoved him

sn't a

er the word 'giant'

lle says. "She said he was a

ional to the rest

et the class's attention. "Regardless, the fact remains that you nee

's whispering the words in my ear.

ted. Maybe another attack wouldn't be so

urts out. "Buy a gun. I ca

't getting-she do

lice report going to do if that guy comes bac

I could see your face, I'd be able to tell if you're jok

and her eyebrows are as thin as they were in high school, which is to say, almost nonexistent. She rais

ering my mouth, "is t

k ring around her right eye and gives a hum

rily silent. Her n