The Alley
The back door slammed hard against the wall as Ethan dragged her into the alley.
Noise from the restaurant cut off, swallowed by brick and shadow. The air reeked of oil and smoke, dumpsters crowding close.
His hand clamped over her mouth, the scream trapped in her throat. His other shoved against her chest, pressing her flat to the wall. Cold brick bit through fabric.
"Do you remember, Lena?" he hissed, venom curling every syllable. His grip crushed her jaw until pain lanced sharp. His smile showed teeth. "If you're lucky, maybe I'll give you round two."
Her heart slammed against her ribs. Breath broke thin and jagged. She shook her head, but he pressed closer, weight brutal, lips grazing her ear.
"You make me this way," he sneered. His hand slid down her thigh, rough, climbing high, pushing fabric aside, fingers forcing entry where she had no choice.
Her scream stuck against his palm. Her nails tore at his wrist. He shoved harder, breath ragged with triumph.
The Red
Her bag had spilled at her side, the phone half-fallen.
One corner of the screen still glowed, message thread open.
Julian's last words hovered above her trembling thumb: Always back to me.
Blind, frantic, she pressed. No words. Just the same one again.
Red.
Her body shook, every nerve screaming. She couldn't breathe past his palm. But the message was gone. Sent.
Not a prayer to God. She no longer believed in that kind of mercy.
A prayer to Julian.
The Arrival
Ethan forced her higher on her toes, his mouth hot at her cheek, spit slicking her skin.
"Why would you want him," he sneered, "when I can give you what you need?"
The alley door burst open.
Hard. Final.
Julian filled the frame, black coat cutting against the yellow security light, his expression carved in steel. His gaze locked first on her, then on Ethan's hand, then on Ethan himself.
The air shifted, violent, absolute.
"Let her go," Julian said, voice calm but carrying the weight of death.
Ethan's grin cracked wide. "So the knight finally shows. Think she's yours? Look at her. She's mine. Always mine."
Julian didn't move closer yet. His jaw locked, gray eyes darker than she had ever seen. "I'll give you one chance."
Ethan's laugh was brittle. His hand clamped tighter over Lena's mouth, his fingers still inside her, brutal. "She asked for this. You think she didn't? She.."
Julian moved.
The Reckoning
One heartbeat she was pinned, the next Ethan was ripped away; wrenched off her like he weighed nothing.
Air tore into Lena's lungs, sharp and searing. The burn of violation clung to her skin, every nerve screaming.
Julian had him by the collar, slammed him hard into brick. Ethan's head snapped back, the sound flat.
"You don't touch her again," Julian's voice rumbled low, terrifying in its restraint. His fist drove into Ethan's ribs once, twice, controlled strikes with lethal precision. "Not now. Not ever."
"You can't protect her from me. She comes back. She always comes back."
Julian dragged him higher until his feet barely scraped ground. "She's already gone from you," he said, voice cutting. "Come near her again, you won't walk away."
He released him with deliberate force. Ethan crumpled, coughing, his pride shattered.
Julian turned. His eyes went to Lena.
The Anchor
She slid down the wall, knees folding, lungs scraping air in broken pulls. Julian was there in an instant, kneeling, his hands framing her face.
Her eyes flooded, green and raw, lips trembling. "Julian…"
He pulled her against his chest, coat wrapping around her, shutting out the night, shutting out Ethan, shutting out everything but her.
"You're safe," he whispered, voice fraying. "I've got you. You're safe."
She shook, sobs silent at first, then tearing out of her. He held her tighter, pressing his mouth to her hairline, repeating her name, steady as a heartbeat.
Her phone buzzed faint in his pocket. The echo of Red still glowing. He silenced it, tucking it away.
His arms didn't loosen. Not once.
And for the first time, Ethan's shadow wasn't the loudest thing in the night.
It was her breath, breaking but steadying against him.
It was the word she had sent into the dark, answered.
Red.