Pucker Up (A Damsels of Distress Novel) (34 page)

but…”

Shock flickered across his face

before he barked out a boisterous laugh.

He reached over and pulled her into a

bear hug, lifting her off the ground. His

whole body vibrated against her as she

froze in his arms.

“Whoa, there.” She tried to pat

his back but it wasn’t easy with her arms

pinned to her sides. Only her hands

could move. “Look at you, lifting me

up.” She forced out a giggle to cover her

nerves.
Where are Garren and Thane?

“You can put me down now.”

Darius placed her back on the

floor and stepped back, securing his

hands on her arms. “I sure missed you,

girl.” That easy smile he always wore

lingered on his lips.

Getting away from him might be

easier than I thought.
“I missed you,

too. We should get together some time

and catch up, but I really should be

going.” She tried to turn out of his hold

but he only tightened his grip.

“Sorry, girl, but I’ve got my

orders.” He leaned in to whisper in her

ear. “Rousseau’s been wanting to talk to

you.” Cold determination replaced any

affection he held for her. Squeezing her

upper arm, he led her to the front door.

Fear grew with every step.
I

think he’s serious
. “Darius, you don’t

want to do this.” She tried to tug her arm

free but he only crushed it tighter. She

wouldn’t be surprised to see his

fingerprints embedded in her skin. Her

shoes scuffed along the wood planks in

an attempt to root herself to the floor.

The closer he dragged her to the door,

the faster her heart pounded.

“Let her go,” Garren said, finally

joining the conversation.

Relief washed over her at the

sight of him. She wasn’t sure if she

wanted to sing hallelujah that he finally

decided to help her or curse him out for

taking his sweet time.

He held out his hand, palm facing

out, as he blocked the path to the exit.

No matter how much damage he could

cause with the magic coursing through

that arm, he still looked ridiculous

standing there like a back-up singer for

the latest girl-crazed boy band.

Darius glared. “I don’t have time

for this. Get out of my way before I hurt

you
and
Ivy.”

Me? What did I do?
Her arm

tingled. “Darius, could you loosen up?

I’m losing feeling in my digits.” She

wiggled her fingers when he glanced

down.

“Nice try, but I’m not falling for

that.”

“No, seriously, I think you’re

cutting off an artery.”

While she argued with Darius on

how to properly manhandle a prisoner,

Thane slipped out from the cover of t-

shirts hanging along the wall.

“If you’d like, I can knock you

out and drag you,” Darius threatened in a

low voice, irritation dominating his tone.

“No, I’m good.”

Thane

followed

the

lady

customer as she walked by them to

leave.

Darius pulled her closer as the

woman passed, blocking the grasp he

held on her arm with his body.

The woman stopped before

stepping out of the store. Her gaze

locked on Ivy as if waiting for

permission to leave.

Warmth wrapped around her

heart at the concern shining in the

stranger’s eyes. The unspoken bond of

sisterhood inherent in every woman’s

soul reminded her she was not so alone

in this world. With a meek smile, she

nodded to the woman. She didn’t want to

get an innocent Bane involved in her

mess.

“At least magic hasn’t destroyed

your common sense,” Darius said as

soon as the door clicked shut after the

woman. “Move.”

Garren stepped up until he was

nose to nose with the bulkier guy. “I

won’t tell you again. Let her go.”

“Get out of my face, Weed.” The

threat seeping through Darius’ clenched

teeth ramped up the fear constricting her

chest. She’d seen his victims when he

was done with them. Garren was too

pretty to sacrifice his face like that.

“Listen to him, Garren. I’ll be

fine.” She placed her hand on his chest

to push him away and felt his heart

hammering against her fingers.

His set jaw twitched as he

refused to budge. The war roaring on

inside his head subtly played upon the

features of his face. After a small

eternity, he furrowed his brow and

stepped aside.

Finally, he listens to me
. She

sighed in relief. As she stumbled behind

Darius, she caught the slight nod Garren

gave Thane.

Now what are they up to?

A moment later, Thane slammed

into Darius. The Eradicator tripped and

landed on the floor with a grunt. He

would’ve taken her down with him if

Thane hadn’t caught her around the waist

and pulled her free.

“Get her out of here,” Garren

yelled as he kept Darius pinned to the

floor with his magical shield.

She hesitated for only a second

before grabbing Thane’s hand, jumping

over the squirming Eradicator and

bolting out the door. Tourists staggered

out of their way as they clomped along

the wooden walkway. When she spun

around the corner she smacked into the

hard body of a policeman.

The lady from the store stood

behind him. “That’s the girl, Officer. She

was being harassed by some gang

members.”

Okay, now you’re just being

nosey.
She stepped back to reassure the

Officer she was fine when Thane turned

the corner and plowed into her.

“Oomph.” As she went down, she

knocked over the policeman who then

fell into the lady. They all toppled over

like dominoes.

“Oh, my gosh, I am
s o
sorry.”

Heat rushed to her cheeks as she lay

splayed across the middle-aged man.

She pushed herself off him, ignoring his

grunts of pain. Grabbing Thane’s hand,

she took off again.

“Hey, come back here,” the

officer yelled.

Yeah, right
. She dragged the still

weak Thane towards an empty lot at the

corner of the block. The ground was

about a floor lower than the street with a

set of stairs leading down. As they

approached, Thane tugged on her hand

and pointed to the sign painted on the

arch at the top of the stairs: Pioneer

Park.

She smacked her forehead.
Duh.

She’d passed by this lot at least a

hundred times growing up. “Great. Let’s

go find my prince.” A shiver ran down

her back at the thought of what she had to

do when she found him.

A few ivy-covered trees littered

the lot along with six rusty, ornate

columns that held up nothing. Bushes and

remnants of fallen columns covered the

ground but no obvious signs that a

cursed prince was there. Along the sides

of the stairs and below the walkway was

a wood-plank wall.

“So, where is he?”

“Over here,” Thane called with a

hushed voice from beside the stairs. He

pulled her into a dark corner just as

footsteps thundered above their heads.

The stomping stopped at the top

of the steps. She pressed her back

against the wall below the walkway.

Was it the policeman? Was it Darius?

Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

Where was Garren?

“Ivy?” a voice whispered from

above.

She couldn’t be sure who the

voice belonged to, so she kept silent.

“Thane?” the voice whispered

again, more urgently.

Oh, thank goodness
. Tension

slid off her body like water. “Down

here.”

Garren climbed down the stairs

with an uneven gait, leaning heavily on

the railing. He breathed as if he just

finished a marathon.

She quickly surveyed his body,

searching for blood or other injuries.

Something

wasn’t

right.

“What

happened?”

“I knocked that guy out and

dragged him to the store room. It took a

lot—”

“You did what?”

“Shhh!”

Thane

said

while

glancing up to the walk way.

She lowered her voice. “Did you

hit him with your shield? You can really

hurt someone like that, you know.”

“
I’m
fine, by the way. Thanks for

asking.” He turned his back to her and

spoke to Thane. “So, where’s the dead

guy?”

Thane ran his hands along the

wall. “Can you feel that?”

Both Garren and Ivy groped the

wood planks searching for whatever

Thane was talking about. There wasn’t

anything unusual about the painted

lumber that she could tell. She was about

to question Thane’s sanity when she felt

it. Magic pulsed from deep behind the

wall, reached into her soul and throbbed

in her veins. It tugged at her gut, pulling

her to the source. If only there wasn’t a

wall in the way.

“Can you break the planks?” she

asked either guy. That’s what boys did,

right? Demolish things?

“Not without causing some

damage,” Garren answered.

“Isn’t that the point?”

“I meant to one of
us
,” he hissed.

Someone’s touchy
. She glanced

around for anything they could use as a

battering ram when an idea popped in

her head. “Move aside. I need some

room.”

“What do you think you’re

doing?” Garren asked while backing

away.

“Just watch.” She stood about

five feet away from the wall and raised

her arms in front of her. With her palms

facing forward, she gathered her magic

into a humming ball in her center.

Slowly, she channeled the magic to her

hands and imagined pulling on each

plank of wood. At first nothing changed,

then a squeak of nails sliding out of the

beams encouraged her.

She tugged harder, almost losing

her balance. Three boards pulled free

with a loud crack and flew straight at

her.
Uh, oh
.

“Look out!” Garren knocked her

sideways and covered her with his body.

His shield surrounded them. The hollow

thud of wood pieces landing on hard

ground echoed off the brick buildings on

either side of the lot.

Garren lifted himself to his

elbows but made no other move to get

off of her. “Are you insane or just

suicidal?”

She groaned as she pushed

herself up. Her whole body ached. “It

worked, didn’t it? Aren’t you always

nagging me to use my magic more?”

He scooted off and held out his

hand to help her up. “We better hurry.

I’m sure someone heard that.” He

dropped her hand as soon as she was

stable on her feet. Brushing the dirt from

her clothes, she ignored the twinge of

disappointment at the back of her throat.

She winced when her fingers grazed her

side; most likely bruised ribs.
I wish

he’d stop tackling me like he was a

freakin’ linebacker.

Garren ducked through the new

hole in the wall and then disappeared

into the blackness. Thane followed.

She hesitated, taking a deep

breath. Nerves agitated her stomach like

a thousand wiggling spiders. She stared

at the opening, a dark maw waiting to eat

her up.

Don’t puke.
Exhaling all her

tension and fear in a loud whoosh, she

stepped through the hole. Light from the

streetlamps slipped past the slats above

and lined the tunnel floor. At least she

didn’t have to worry about walking into

walls.

Scuffling shoes lead her in the

right direction, at least she hoped. Who

knew what lurked in these tunnels;

homeless men, drug dealers, zombies?

The magic that called to her grew louder

with each step. A few minutes later, she