Petrified

Adele ~

I couldn't breathe.

One second, Detroit was beside me, calm, or at least pretending to be. The next, he was a storm let loose. He slammed Ryan into the car’s hood, then his fist came flying into Ryan’s jaw with a brutal crack that echoed through the parking lot like a gunshot. I flinched as Ryan's head snapped to the side, blood splattering against the windshield.

I didn’t even have time to react before Detroit struck again, this time his knuckles crushed Ryan’s nose. The sound made bile rise to my throat. Another wet crunch. Another spray of blood.

The world around me went still.

Strangers who had once looked like nothing more than shadows around the parking lot now stood frozen in the distance, wide-eyed and horrified. One was on call, panicking. But no one moved. No one dared to.

And I? I couldn’t look away.

Detroit yanked Ryan up like he weighed nothing and drove his knee into his stomach – once, then again. The sick thud of flesh meeting bone made me gasp aloud. Ryan crum