ia

npour, the icy rain soakin

ache of starvation, and my

eg down the dark stre

er a concrete bridge a

uld close, three str

rough concrete, snatching t

instinct took over and I fought, biting and scratching. A curse, a sharp kick to my

g to my chest. I lay on the cold, wet ground, too exhauste

ghts of a convoy cut through

mored SUVs surroun

, and boots splas

me, their faces a mask of ang

m seeped through my thin sleeve, the damp fabric chafing a new wound a

n my other arm so tight I felt the press of his signet ring aga

ard the SUV, ignori

me into the back sea

e of his

er, the panicked voic

l herself. She's lost a lot of blood. The clin

earview mirror and saw nothing-no hesitation, no doubt, no trace of the boy who had once held me through my nightmares. He was racing toward the clinic to save the girl wh