“No.”
Brad’s grin grows bigger as he shrugs off the priest’s question and steps away from his bride like she’s nothing.
“I wantherinstead.”
Then he points.
At.
Me.
Chaos erupts. Several guests gasp deep enough to suck the air out of the chapel.
Me? I’m not getting any air at all. If not for the rabbit-quick heartbeat in my chest, I’d think I stopped breathing the second Brad laid his claim on me.
This can’t be real,I tell myself, despite every evidence to the contrary.This can’t be happening.
Not to me.
Not—
“Not again,” I find myself pleading, voice small and brittle. So brittle, in fact, that only the person next to me seems to hear it.
Too bad he’llneverhelp me.
I’m paralyzed. I can’t move. All I can do is watch Brad walk towards me in long, confident strides.
He’ll get you back.
He’ll get everything back.
And then, he’ll get Eli back, too.
That’s what snaps me out of it.
Terrified, I leap up and sprint down the aisle. My legs feel like jelly, stumbling with every step. The crowd is acting like molasses, trapping me, keeping me from fleeing the chapel like I so badly want to, when?—
“You can’t have her.”
Hands grip me around the shoulders. Strong hands, but not cruel.
Nothing like Brad’s.
Just a few paces away, Brad sneers. “What the hell did you just say to me?”
My eyes dart to Yulian’s. His expression is unreadable, a mask of cool, smooth ice. To anyone else, he would look perfectly calm.
Except that I’m close enough to see what his eyes really look like.
And it’s a fucking storm up there.
With a swift motion, Yulian grabs my hand and tugs me behind his back. I’m left speechless, my mind struggling to catch up to everything the rest of me is witnessing.
Yulian, getting in the way.
Yulian, stepping between me and Brad.
Yulian,protecting me.
