A Heart Bound In Shadows

Chapter 5

Willow

The ice-cold water stung my split palm as if a thousand tiny needles were piercing my skin, but even that pain could not drown out the panic pounding inside my chest.

I hunched over the rusty sink in the darkest corner at the very back of the kitchen. I turned the faucet on full blast, hoping the rush of water would cover the sound of my own ragged breathing.

What did he see?

How much did he notice?

The questions echoed through my head as I tried to wash the dirt and tiny shards of glass from the wound.

Jace’s scorching emerald-green gaze had burned itself into my mind.

That look had been nothing like the stares of the bullies who only wanted to laugh at me.

It was as though he had seen straight through my thick sweater, all the way to the purple bruises throbbing beneath my skin.

As though he could somehow read my secrets from the air itself.

I tore off a piece of rough paper towel and wrapped it tightly around my palm to stop the bleeding. My hands were still trembling so badly that I could barely secure it.

The swinging door suddenly burst open with a violent crash.

I spun around with a start, pressing my back against the cold tiles.

Amber stormed into the kitchen.

Her face was red with anger, her eyes blazing.

“You. Are. The clumsiest. f*****g. Disaster. I have ever seen!” she hissed, slamming a stack of dirty plates onto the counter. “It’s not enough that you broke a bunch of dishes, you had to scare off the most important customers in town with that pathetic face of yours too! Jace and his crew got up and left after barely ten minutes. They didn’t even order anything!”

My stomach clenched.

They were gone.

Thank God.

But Amber’s words continued to lash against me like hail.

“I’m sorry…” I muttered hoarsely, staring at the toes of my shoes.

“Sorry isn’t going to pay for the damage!” Amber snapped.

She pointed toward the enormous black garbage bags beside the back door.

“Take the trash out to the dumpster, then get the hell out of here. I don’t want to see you again tonight! And tomorrow, you’d better work twice as fast, or you’re fired!”

I nodded silently.

I waited until Amber disappeared back into the dining area before slowly making my way toward the back door.

Three enormous, heavy bags were waiting for me.

They were filled with food scraps, coffee grounds, and pieces of broken plates.

When I lifted the first bag, the ribs on my left side screamed with sharp pain. The fresh wound in my palm immediately began bleeding again as the plastic dug into the makeshift bandage.

I clenched my teeth, swallowed the pain in silence, and pushed open the back door.

The alley behind the café was dark and damp.

The smell of rotting garbage mixed with wet asphalt. The only source of light was a flickering yellow streetlamp at the far end of the alley.

I dragged the first bag outside and, with tremendous effort, heaved it into the rusty metal dumpster.

Then I went back for the second.

Every step sent pain shooting through the bruise on my thigh, while the cold wind cut mercilessly through my thin pants.

By the time I managed to wrestle the third and heaviest bag onto the edge of the dumpster, my arm gave out.

The bag slipped back down.

Panting, tears burning my eyes, I tried to lift it again.

Just do this, and then you can go home.

Or rather, back to hell.

Suddenly, a faint sound caught my attention.

The soft scrape of a shoe against asphalt.

I froze.

The silence of the alley suddenly became thick and threatening.

My pulse thundered in my ears.

Slowly, fearfully, I turned around.

The yellow light barely reached this far, stretching the shadows into long, distorted shapes.

Barely ten feet from the dumpster stood a huge, dark figure.

I swallowed a scream and backed against the cold metal of the dumpster.

The figure stepped out of the deepest shadows, and the streetlight illuminated his face.

Jace.

He had not left.

He had been waiting for me.

He stood perfectly still in his black leather jacket, his hands buried in his pockets, like a statue.

Or a predator that had finally cornered its prey.

In the darkness of the night, his green eyes almost seemed to glow, piercing and inexplicably intense.

The air around me changed instantly.

The scent of pine, rain, and something raw, dark, and masculine filled my lungs.

I had never felt a presence so powerful, so suffocating.

Victor’s rage was chaotic and loud.

Jace’s presence was silent.

And somehow, it felt a thousand times more dangerous.

“Leave the bag,” he said.

His voice was deep, like distant thunder.

It was not a request.

It was an absolute command.

My throat went dry.

I could not speak.

My hands clutched the hem of my sweater.

Jace slowly started toward me.

Every step was measured, fluid, and completely silent.

He moved through the darkness in a way no human should have been able to.

Pure panic wrapped an icy fist around my lungs.

He is going to hurt me.

He wants something from me, and he is going to hurt me.

“Please…” I whispered, my voice breaking pathetically.

I pressed myself tighter against the dumpster as though I could somehow disappear into the metal.

“Please, don’t…”

The moment he heard my voice, Jace stopped.

He was barely three feet away.

Up close, he seemed even bigger.

Even more terrifying.

His broad shoulders nearly blocked the entrance to the alley.

But when he looked at my face, the dark, murderous tension I had seen in him inside the café cracked for a moment.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said quietly.

There was such raw sincerity in his voice that it confused me.

His jaw tightened.

“But you’re shaking. And your scent… you smell like blood and fear.”

His eyes dropped to my hand, wrapped in the blood-soaked paper towel.

“Show me your hand.”

“I’m fine. I just… I just want to go home,” I lied, fixing my eyes on the ground.

My legs were trembling so badly I thought they might collapse beneath me.

“Don’t lie to me, Willow.”

My name sounded strange coming from his mouth.

Almost possessive.

For a moment, I forgot how to breathe.

How did he know my name?

Before I could understand what he was doing, Jace slowly raised his hand and reached toward me.

My mind immediately shut down.

Survival instinct took over.

The blow is coming.

I squeezed my eyes shut, jerked my head away, and threw my arm over my face to protect myself as a frightened, strangled whimper escaped my lips.

I waited for the impact.

I waited for the pain.

But nothing came.

Instead, Jace’s large, warm hand closed around my wrist with careful, almost unbelievable gentleness.

The instant his skin touched mine, something unimaginable happened.

A hot, electric shock raced up my arm and straight into my heart.

It did not hurt.

Quite the opposite.

It felt as though every frozen, terrified cell in my body had suddenly come alive.

A spark illuminating the endless darkness inside me.

I opened my eyes with a gasp and looked directly at Jace.

He had frozen too.

His eyes widened, and some kind of wild energy seemed to pulse around his green irises.

His chest rose and fell heavily.

He stared at me as though, in that single second, I had somehow become the answer to every mystery in the world.

“My God…” Jace whispered.

His voice was hoarse, filled with something I could not understand.

Awe.

I had no idea what was happening.

His touch was somehow both the most terrifying and the safest thing I had ever experienced.

My head was spinning.

But the panic was still stronger.

Still affected by whatever had just passed between us, Jace slowly peeled the blood-soaked paper towel away from my palm.

He saw the deep cut.

His thumb brushed over my wrist with incredible gentleness, careful not to cause me any pain.

As he leaned closer, his nose almost brushed my hair.

He inhaled deeply near my neck.

I felt his entire body tense as though he were fighting against some invisible force.

“Old blood… and bruises,” he murmured, his nose still close to my hair.

His voice now carried pure, predatory rage.

“Who did this to you? Who dared touch you?”

The raw, possessive fury in his questions shattered my paralysis.

Terrified, I ripped my hand from his grasp.

The electric connection between us broke, instantly replaced by the cold night air.

“No one! Leave me alone!” I cried, my voice strained and muffled.

I did not wait for his reaction.

I darted around his massive body and ran blindly toward the end of the alley, ignoring the pain in my leg.

My heart pounded in my throat.

Tears blurred my vision.

I expected to hear his footsteps behind me.

Expected him to catch me.

To grab me and drag me back into the darkness.

But the alley remained silent.

When I reached the corner, I looked back.

Jace was still standing beneath the streetlight.

He had not moved.

He was simply watching me.

And even as the distance between us grew, I could feel the weight of his scorching, predatory gaze on my back all the way home.