A flicker of movement caught my attention.
Up ahead, two figures stood at the corner where the street opened onto a wider avenue. Hunters.
Their eyes were sharp, hands hovering too close to their weapons.
One of them scanned the sparse traffic, his eyes narrowing as a young woman walked past.
The other turned his head just a fraction toward us.
Shit.
I wrapped my arm around Asher’s waist and pulled him close, feeling his body go rigid against mine.
“What the hell are you—” Asher began.
“Shut up and walk,” I hissed in his ear. “Unless you want to give them a reason to look twice.”
He bristled but didn’t pull away. His weight settled against me, reluctant but necessary.
I felt the heat of his body through the layers of our clothes, the faint tremor in his limbs as his strength wavered.
The hunters weren’t moving yet, but we had seconds, maybe less, before their gaze would inevitably latch onto us.
I tilted my head down, murmuring into Asher’s ear to sell the illusion of intimacy.
“We’re just another couple out for a shitty morning stroll. Keep your head down and let me do the talking if it comes to that,” I told him.
His breath hitched, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure if it was pain, frustration, or something else.
Then he nodded, a small, curt motion.
We moved together, my steps slow to match his limping gait.
I felt every ounce of his pride warring with the need to lean on me, every muscle in his body taut and straining. But he did it.
He trusted me, or at least trusted the situation enough to fake it. The hunters’ eyes swept past us, disinterested. For now.
We slipped around the corner, the air feeling marginally less suffocating once we were out of their direct line of sight.
But I didn’t let go of Asher. I couldn’t. His breath was shallow, his leg trembling with exertion.
“Gael,” he muttered through gritted teeth, “I can walk on my own.”
“Yeah, and I can sprout wings and fly,” I shot back. “Humor me.”
He didn’t argue, which worried me more than anything. Asher never missed a chance to push back, to prove he was in control.
But now, he was sagging against me, his strength bleeding out with every step.
The streets around us were waking up. Storefronts were opening, a few cars rolling by, people starting their morning routines.
Too many eyes, too many chances for someone to notice two men who didn’t fit the scenery.
An alleyway yawned to our left, narrow and littered with garbage. It wasn’t much, but it would do.
I steered Asher into the shadows, pressing him against the brick wall as gently as I could.
He let out a sharp hiss, his fingers curling into fists.
