17
Ashton
I pressed my hand over Hayley’s mouth and pushed her further into the narrow alley. She fought against me, but I was too strong for her. I pressed her against a wall just behind an archway. “Shhhh,” I told her. “It’s me.”
Finally seeing me through her despair, Hayley’s eyes widened and her body relaxed a little bit. I dropped my hand but didn’t let her go.
“Ash,” she whispered.
That word, that tone, it hit me directly in my gut. Holy petals, how scared I had been when I realized what was going on. And when I couldn’t find her at the teashop? Even worse.
Pure relief coursed through me once I found her.
“They are close,” I told her in a low voice. “Just stay still.”
I stepped closer to her, pressing my body against her, hiding us from view. Her scent filled my nostrils, and
