Move, get the phone!
One leg gave out, but I landed in arm's length. Snatching my cell, I frantically dialed, rolling to watch Florian looming over me. He was an avalanche, and I had a few mere seconds to speak.
Vermont picked up instantly, his voice clipped. “What now, Alexis? I'm on my way—”
“It wasn't him!”
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
Leaning into the phone, I started to shriek. “It's not Silver—not Keswick! It was Florian!”
“Who the hell is Florian?”
The hacker cracked his fist into my ear. Every color in existence spun in my vision, and I noticed I was looking up at the ceiling.
“You little bitch!” Dropping the phone, he crushed it under his heel. “You really wanted to ruin everything, didn't you?”
The computer made a tiny clicking sound. Florian froze where he was, his face turning ghostly white. I knew that noise was a good noise.
Whirling, he ran for the desk. Slamming his palms on either side of the keyboard, he boggled at the screen. The blue light made his face alien. “No! No no no!” Pounding the keys, he scraped his nails over his temples. I'd never seen a person so unhinged.
I did it, the timer went off.
His stare flicked to me, and my joy melted.
“I hope it was worth it.” He stalked towards me around the desk. “Ruining my alibi is the last thing you'll do on this damn Earth.”
Once, five years ago, I'd known the fear of death. It had clung to me the moment Silver had put a gun to my head. Watching Florian approach should have locked me down like that first time.
But I wasn't that girl anymore.
Instead of crumbling into a shaking pile, I forced myself to run for the door. He was breathing down my neck. Wind grazed my elbow; he'd moved to catch me.
I was already bolting down the stairs.
“Get back here!” he screamed behind me.
Taking a hard turn, I plowed around a corner. The throbbing in my head was making me ill. When I burst into a room full of brightly colored sex toys on display, dread became my new companion. This was where I'd been with Silver last night. It wasn't the exit.
In my panic, I'd taken a wrong turn.
His shoes stampeded behind me on the hard floor. Low grunts made him sound like a dragon that planned to eat me alive. I didn't know the full weight of what I'd done to Florian, but he was furious. Deadly.
With a final growl, he shoved into me before I could run again. Toppling against the table, I sent vibrators and other items crumbling to the floor around me.
This is it, I thought in wonder. This is how I die.
My eyes blurred, focusing on the texture of the tiles in front of me. The scuffling shoes of my attacker approached, echoing like thunder claps. I can't give up. What a strong, useless thought. I was fighting tooth and nail, and still, Florian had broken me down.
But I wasn't done.
Not yet.
“I'll kill you,” he huffed, finger-tips digging into my shoulder. “I never planned to hurt anyone, but fuck if you haven't changed that, you dumb bitch.”
Spinning, I swung at his temple with the full strength of every bad thing that had ever happened to me behind it. The edge of the heavy metal base on the toy cut into his skin, colliding off of his skull.
Florian toppled to the ground in a giant heap.
Breathing in great swallows of air, I stared down at him savagely. My grip on the big red dildo was bone-white. I'd done it. I'd actually done it. For the first time in my life, I'd faced down someone trying to hurt me...
And I'd won.
“Here,” I mumbled, tossing the toy so that it bounced off of his temple. “Have one of those cocks you won't shut up about.”
“Alexis!”
Whipping my eyes up, I stared in disbelief. The man I loved, his hands bound by metal cuffs, was coming my way in a hurry. Did I have a concussion?
“Silver?” I asked, swaying on my feet.
Impossibly fast he crossed the room, catching me in spite of his bound hands. “Pet!” he growled, cradling me where he knelt. “Are you alright?”
Blinking, I reached up to touch his cheek. “How are you here?”
Pushing his hips to my forehead, he embraced me furiously. “You can thank your friend over there for that.”
Vermont approached Florian. Another pair of officers entered the room, bending over the fallen man. Their loud chattering said his injuries were mild. I'd hit him as hard as I could, but he wasn't in critical health.
Sensing my stare, Vermont looked at me. His ears were glowing red; the pen was tugged free, waving between his knuckles. “Your guy there wouldn't shut the hell up about us turning around once he heard you on the phone with me. I thought he was going to smash his face through the damn window just to get here.”
My chin swung like a pendulum. “How did you know where I was?”