Free Worth Dying For by Luxie Ryder Page A

stranger spoke again. “Are you hurt?”
    Amber kept her head down, her heart racing. Suddenly, the man knelt beside her and grabbed her chin, trying to force her to look at him.
      “Do you remember me?”
    The question surprised her, and she lifted her gaze without thinking. His eyes were the first thing she focused on. Almost black, they watched her as if trying to gauge her reaction to what she saw. His raven hair had fallen forwards around his face and neck in sharp contrast to his alabaster skin and accentuating his firm, darkly pigmented lips.
    She definitely didn’t know him. Who the hell would forget him? Despite the very normal looking T-shirt and jeans he wore, the man had something other-worldly about him. Yet Amber didn’t know quite what caused that effect. Maybe it was nothing more than his size and his strange onyx eyes.
    “Why would I remember you—who are you?”
    Her voice shook when the panic she’d had to swallow down in order to speak threatened to erupt again at any second. She had no idea what he wanted, but for some reason he’d saved her from whoever had done that to David. At the thought, she wrenched her face from his grasp and turned towards the broken body of her friend.
    “My name is Malachi Bane. You can call me Bane,” the man said, as if trying to drag her attention away from the disturbing image, “and I need to get you out of here right now.”
    “But why…I mean, who did this?” Her stare was fixed on David and she didn’t notice that he—Bane—had got to his feet until he grabbed her upper arms and forced her to stand. His mountainous frame dwarfed even her tall one, and she shrank away from him again.
    “I will answer every question you have once you are safe.” Amber wrestled from his grasp and opened her mouth to protest but he stopped her. “Listen to me, woman. You are leaving with me within the next few minutes. You can do it dressed and on your own two feet, or half naked and over my shoulder. It’s up to you.”
    He stared at her as he waited for her to react and an alien sense of calm washed over her again. She pondered at the sensation, wondering why all of a sudden it seemed like a good idea to do what the large and terrifying man had asked.
    “But there’s a body in there,” she protested, pointing to the bedroom.
    “What body? There’s nothing in there. See for yourself.” He placed a hand on the small of her back and pushed her towards the door. “I’ll wait for you out here. Don’t make me come look for you.”
    As vulnerable as she felt, Amber realised she could offer no resistance. Her head throbbed anew from her injury as her gaze darted around the room, looking for the body she knew should be there. But he was right—the room was empty. More questions sprang to mind about the reason for the attack and what had happened to the headless corpse she’d seen laying on the carpet minutes earlier but she knew she had little hope of getting any answers.
    Amber cast a glance at the window that looked out over the street—could she scream for help before he got to her? But what would be the point? Nobody would make it up to the apartment in time anyway. Complying with the intruder’s wishes seemed the safest thing to do. He planned to take her outside, where there would be people—lots of them. As soon as she could, she would raise the alarm and scream bloody murder. Or maybe she’d be able to run away. It wasn’t as if he’d be able to stop her in the middle of a crowded street. No, but he could catch me and snap my neck like a twig with those massive hands before anybody could stop him. She would need to be careful and choose her moment wisely. It was doubtful she’d get more than one shot at escaping with her life.
    Amber dressed with her gaze fixed on the door in case he came back in. She threw a pair of jeans on to go with the T-shirt she already had on and slipped her feet into the sneakers she had worn to leave hospital. Uncertain of