Her Danger, His Heaven

MAVE

“Don’t worry, Jase. Plenty to go around.” The man behind me slurs a little; it’s only now that I hear it and smell the alcohol on his breath.

“I don’t share,” Jason growls. “I won’t tell you again.”

“Fuck off, Jase,” shit kicker spits back. “You’re not boss yet.”

Jason raises a brow in surprise and steps forward with one hand in his pockets, looking calm as anything. He takes another drag of his cigarette before flicking it away.

“You really want to do this, Kane?” Jason asks with a disbelieving chuckle.

That seems to piss Kane off. He pushes me away, and I stumble and fall; my hands and knees scrape on the rough ground. Behind me, Kane cracks his knuckles. Jason simply stands there, amused and waiting.

The others back off, giving them space as Kane takes the first swing. It would have hit hard, but Jason dodges it easily and makes Kane stumble from his own power.

Jason uses this to his advantage and clocks Kane hard on the jaw with a horrific crack, sending him straight to the ground on his hands and knees.

It’s only on the backswing that I see the jagged, shiny metal that covers Jason’s knuckles, now splattered with purple-looking blood under the orange streetlight.

Before Kane can recover, Jason slams his knuckle duster down onto the guy’s spine; Kane collapses flat to the ground.

Jason straightens and faces the others while Kane groans in pain on the tarmac.

“Anyone else?” he asks calmly, not even out of breath.

They all shake their heads as he steps up onto the sidewalk, and they all take another step back. He huffs out a breath and holds his hand out to me.

I look around at all the men surrounding me, then look back at Jason’s hand and cautiously reach out to take it. He pulls me to my trembling legs and helps support me where I stand. He looks into my eyes, examining me.

“You hurt?” he asks, and I shake my head.

His shoulders relax a little, and he nods. Putting one arm around me, he leads me away up the alley he was hiding in. I see his bike there and stiffen.

“It’s okay,” he says. “Get on. I’ll get you home.”

It isn’t a hard decision. If the choice is continuing my walk through the lion’s den or getting on his bike, I’m definitely choosing the bike.

Climbing onto the back, I look for something to hold, but he reaches behind himself and pulls my arms around his stomach, locking them around him. “Hold on tight. I’ll go steady.”

I nod against his back, squeezing as he kicks the bike to start. It roars to life, and I squeeze even tighter as my anxiety spikes.

He puts a hand over mine and holds them together as he pulls the bike away.

I bury my face in the back of his leather jacket until we’re going at a steady pace down the road. Then I open my eyes only to glimpse where we are and give him directions.

Eventually, he pulls up outside my apartment building and cuts the engine. I finally relax a little and loosen my grip before quickly scrambling off the bike. But instead of getting himself ready to go, Jason gets off the bike with me.

We stand awkwardly for a moment, neither of us speaking. I don’t exactly know what to say when he just saved me from…God knows what.

He holds his hand out in the direction of my apartment, so I start walking. He follows slightly behind me up to the main door and even up the stairs.

Suddenly, I’m worried.

I know he’ll remember this, and…I owe him now.

When we arrive at my apartment door, I stop and pull out my keys, waiting.

“Do you sleep in the corridor?” he asks, and I blush, shaking my head.

“You can open the door. I just want to be sure you get in okay,” he says quietly and looks around the hall.

I nod, chewing on my lip, and slide the keys into the lock. I step through into the apartment but stay in the doorway, holding the door as I face him again.

“Thank you,” I say timidly.

He remains impassive but nods. “As long as you’re okay?”

“I am. Thank you.”

“Will someone be with you?” he asks, looking over my head into the empty apartment.

I tighten my hold on the door. “Yes. My roommate will be back soon…”

“How long?”

“Not long,” I say, unsure if it’s the truth. She did say she’s working on something.

“Okay…,” he answers, but his tone is uneasy, and he doesn’t make a move to leave.

My lip finds its way between my teeth as I nibble at it anxiously. Truthfully, I don’t know how long Alice will be, and after what happened tonight, I’d rather not be on my own right now. What if we were followed?

I know it sounds stupid because, realistically, I doubt that we were, but after tonight’s events, it’s not worth risking.

“C-can you…hang around for a little while?” I ask in a whisper.

His shoulders drop a notch. It’s like he was waiting for me to ask, not only for my own peace of mind but it seems for his own too.

“Yeah. Of course.”

I take a step back from the doorway to let him pass before locking up behind him.

I turn into the living space and watch him shrug off his leather crew jacket while his eyes scan the area. He makes his way over to one of the four windows and looks down at the quiet parking lot.

“Do you want something to drink?” I ask, unsure of what else to say. He half turns toward me and nods. “Beer?”

“Sure. Thanks.”

I head over into the kitchen area and crack open the fridge.

“How long have you lived here?” he asks curiously while I rifle around the fridge and pull out two sealed bottles of beer. I don’t usually drink beer, but tonight it feels right.

“A couple of months,” I say. “My roommate owns this place.”

He hums and takes the bottle I hold out for him, briefly examining the sealed cap before cracking it open with ease.

“Didn’t you used to live over on the protected side of town?” he asks.

I frown a little as he sits down on the couch. How does he know that?

“Um…yeah. That’s where my mom lives.”

He seems to register the coolish tone in my voice and doesn’t push further. It’s a tone that appears whenever I talk about my mother and her…boyfriend.

I round the back of the couch cautiously and decide to sit in the armchair that doubles as my reading corner just off to his right, nearest the bookshelf. There’s a moment of awkward silence as he sips his beer.

Eventually, I can’t take it anymore and know that I have to say something.

“Thank you. Again,” I say while picking away at the bottle label. “For all…that.”

He stares straight ahead for a moment before glancing across to me; instantly, my cheeks warm. “Don’t thank me. Not for that.”

I frown at him a little, and he sighs.

“No one should be subjected to any of that,” he says. “Least of all you.”

My frown deepens, but he covers his last statement. “I did what any human being should do in that situation.”

I don’t know why that makes something in me sink a little, but I suppose he’s right. Although, I still feel like this is all somehow going to come back to me in one way or another.

I’m about to ask him what I owe him in return for his protection when we hear the lock in the door twist and flick.

Jason jumps up and blocks where I’m sitting with his body, appearing ready for anything when the door opens, but only Alice walks through.

We both breathe a sigh of relief, although Ali’s face is one of complete surprise, confusion, and fear.

“Mave?” she squeaks and tries to look around Jason’s imposing frame as I scramble up from the chair.

I move around him and go toward her, throwing my arms around her neck and squeezing her like she might disappear. “Oh my God, I’m so glad to see you.”

“What’s going on?” she whispers into my ear, but I shake my head into her neck when my throat constricts at the mere thought of what almost happened to me.

Jason clears his throat and in turn gets our attention. I watch as he sets down his beer on the coffee table and grabs his jacket from the back of the couch.

“I’ll leave you to it,” he says.

I pull away from Alice for a moment and nod as Jason heads for the door. I follow him, pausing in the frame.

“Thank you for staying with me,” I say quietly as he pulls on his jacket in the hallway.

“Are you two going to be okay?”

I nod. “Yeah, we should be.”

“All right. Keep the door locked, and for your own safety…I wouldn’t be walking around out there after dark.”

I sigh. “You’re right there.”

He quirks something of a half-smile before striding off down the hallway. I watch until he heads down the stairs, then I close the door, locking it behind me.

When I turn around and see Alice standing in the kitchen with her hands braced on the counter, I let myself go.

I crumble as I let it all out, and she sits and comforts me. Finally, reality hits, immediately overwhelming me, and I can’t keep it in. Alice was once in a similar situation, but luckily, she was able to pay the guy off not to touch her.

I was lucky, really, that Jason turned up—or my night could have ended very differently. I was grateful too, though I knew I’d likely have to repay him in some way eventually.

I can’t not. Not after what he did to his own “brothers” in order to protect me, a waitress from the local diner.

I don’t understand it.

***

After hours of crying, I fall asleep on the sofa, and Alice drapes me in a throw blanket, leaving me in exhausted peace.

At least, it was peaceful until we’re both awoken by a loud pounding on our front door.

I shoot up from the cushions, blinking into the darkness at the loud hammering. Alice comes running in, flicking on the lamp by the bookcase. She has a baseball bat in her hands.

I hug the blanket to my chest as she approaches the door and screams at the wood. “Fuck off!

The banging abruptly stops, replaced by a deep, weak voice.

“Op-en…the door…”

I look at Alice, but she shouts again, “I said, Fuck off!”

“M-Mave…” The voice comes through again with a weak tap. Jason?!

I scramble off the sofa, coming up behind Alice. We both frown as more sounds reach through.

“Fuck…argh!” There’s another bang; it sounds like Jason is holding himself up on the door. “I request…sanctuary. By order…of the Lions.”

Our faces drop. Shit. That is the one sentence that, as residents of this town, we cannot disobey. Not without consequences.

Alice lowers the bat, letting it hang by her leg. We look at each other and then back to the door. I draw in a shaky breath and pull away from her slowly.

“Mave!” she hisses.

“We both know we have to do this, Ali,” I whisper back at her.

She blanches, pale as a ghost, and shakes her head. But then she lifts the bat again, holding it ready to swing, and nods to me once.

I nod back and reach cautiously for the lock, holding my breath as I flick it and grasp the handle. When I twist it, the door flies open, and a huge weight falls onto me.