(Eleanor's POV)
The sound hit the alley first.
A heavy thud, like bone against brick. Then another. A rough shuffle, a grunt cut short.
Elise and I both stopped running.
Behind us, at the mouth of the alley, the dim light from the street barely reached. But it was enough to see them. Three men. Marcus’s men. And one figure moving between them like the air itself had decided to cut them down.
I couldn’t breathe.
The man didn’t shout. He didn’t waste motion. He stepped in, his black coat flaring, and his hand came up and there was a crack that made my stomach turn.
One of them went down and didn’t get up. The second swung, and the man caught his wrist and twisted it until I heard the snap. The third tried to run, and the man caught him by the throat and slammed him back against th
