Jade couldn't be sure how long she sat in that stall, listening to the world outside the door pretend nothing had happened. Minutes stretched into something heavier. An hour, maybe. Long enough that her legs cramped and her thoughts started to blur at the edges. If the man in the crate mattered as much as those voices implied, then backup would come. Backup would search. Backup would ask questions. And Jade had no interest in being part of those questions.
On shaky, half-asleep legs, she stood and dusted off her skirt with hands that didn't feel like they belonged to her. She pressed her ear to the bathroom door and listened.
Nothing.
Slowly, she eased it open. The lab lay in darkness, silent and still. The air smelled faintly of disinfectant and cold metal. No men. No tools. No splintered crate. No glass. No blue liquid. No evidence that her night had happened at all.
Her bag and coat still sat on the table near the front door, exactly where she'd left them. Jade padded across the room, collected her things, and tried not to think about how clean the floor looked.
She cracked the lab door and peered into the hallway. Still empty. The building was too quiet, the kind of quiet that made her skin itch. For a brief moment she debated staying the night, locking herself in her office until morning.
Then she pictured armed men and a superior asking where she'd been, what she'd seen, and why she'd been alone with something that "broke out."
No. Absolutely not.
Jade slipped into the hallway and hurried toward the back exit. The silence should've been comforting after the chaos, but it only made her feel watched. She realized she'd been holding her breath the whole time. She didn't inhale fully until she was outside and the night air hit her face.
The parking lot was empty. The field beyond it was darker. Jade moved anyway.
She crossed the open ground at a fast walk that turned into a sprint, then cut into the tree line, weaving between trunks as if the shadows could hide her from whatever was following. Branches snagged at her clothes. Roots threatened to trip her. She didn't slow down until she felt pavement under her shoes again. She dropped to her knees, gasping, scanning the empty street like it might reveal who had been behind her.
Nothing.
After several long breaths, she forced herself upright. One last look back, then she started for home. With every step, the adrenaline bled out of her and left exhaustion in its place. The day's work finally caught up with her like a hand closing around her shoulders. Government lab work was draining on a normal night. A night that included a mystery crate, armed men, and a vanished naked stranger was… worse.
She collapsed onto a bus bench near her apartment and stared at her arms. They looked like she'd been mauled by an angry cat.
Despite the warm weather, she'd have to wear long sleeves for a while. Not that anyone cared enough to ask her directly. They didn't talk to Jade unless they had to. But the whispers were bad enough already. The last thing she needed was people deciding she was "unstable" on top of being quiet, awkward, and always alone.
She pushed herself up. A few blocks. Then sleep. That was all she wanted. But the moment she stood, the feeling hit her again.
Hunted.
Her stomach dropped as the memory of those men in the lab flashed through her mind. Jade tightened her grip on her bag and spun, scanning the street.
"Hello?" she called, voice small.
Silence answered.
She forced air into her lungs, repeated the lie she needed to believe, and started walking again.
There is no one there. There is no one there.
The street stayed empty for three more steps. Then four men surrounded her, approaching from all sides with drunken smiles and misplaced steps. Voices snapped in her face. Hands shoved her down hard enough to knock the wind out of her. Someone yanked her purse away while another pinned her to the pavement with a forearm like a bar across her chest.
Jade squeezed her eyes shut as tears spilled down her cheeks. "Please," she begged, words breaking. "Please don't hurt me." She pleads with the men not to hurt her; feeling hands tug her hair and over her arms and legs. The men laugh and mock her pleads for help.
"Shuddup! No one's coming for you bitch!" One of the men spit in her face. She can smell the stench of liquor as she struggles against hands that are now trying to rip her clothes from her body. Jade screamed, thrashing, but it didn't matter. Panic flooded her body so fast her limbs went numb. She had escaped the lab, had made it this far, only to die here.
All at once, the pressure stopped. The hands pulled away. Jade's eyes flew open. The men were standing now, turned away from her, facing someone else. A stranger. Jade scrambled backward on shaking arms, trying to put distance between herself and the thugs. One of them glanced over his shoulder at her, eyes glittering with mean amusement.
"If you move one more inch," he said, voice low, "I'll kill you."
Jade froze.
The stranger came closer. Jade couldn't tell, through tears and fear, whether he meant to help her or join them. Her throat wouldn't work. Her voice wouldn't come. So she mouthed the words instead.
Help me.
For the briefest instant, it looked like the stranger almost smiled.
He had shaggy black hair that hung loosely and an expression so indifferent it was unsettling. But his eyes. His eyes burned. They were the color of embers, red and gold beneath the dark, glowing like heat trapped behind glass. Jade didn't even have time to question how impossible that was.
The stranger rolled his shoulders back, cracked his neck, and stepped forward as if this were inconvenient but not complicated. The first thug swung. The stranger dodged easily and flicked his half-smoked cigarette into the man's face. The thug recoiled with a howl, clutching at his eyes.
In the same motion, the stranger moved. One kick, then another. Two men dropped like their legs had been unplugged. A fist cracked into the fourth man's nose, fast and clean, and he crumpled. The first thug barely recovered before the stranger slammed into him shoulder-first and sent him sprawling. Jade watches the scene unfold with stunned silence. As each thug hits the ground, she eyes them wearily. Then it was quiet again.
The stranger stepped over the bodies and stopped in front of Jade. Jade stared up at him, stunned into silence. Her chest heaved. Her hands shook. The entire world felt unreal, like it was happening to someone else. It had all happened so fast that Jade struggled to understand.
Finally, words found her. "Th-thank you…"
He didn't react. His face stayed blank, almost annoyed, like saving her had been a detour.
Jade pushed herself up, brushing at her skirt with trembling fingers. Her eyes flicked to the men. She noticed burn marks, fresh and angry, across skin and clothing. Her breath caught. They all appeared to have inexplicable fresh burn wounds.
The stranger cleared his throat, snapping her attention back to him.
Jade's questions spilled out before she could stop them. "Who are you? Are you from the lab? Are they from the lab? What did you do to them? Did you burn them? Are they dead?"
The stranger tilts his head curiously but he lifted a hand, palm out. Stop. Jade clamped a hand over her mouth. She hated herself for talking too much. Hated that fear made her worse at being normal. The man looks at the thugs sprawled on the side walk and his shoulders sink. He seemed uninterested and annoyed now. She let her eyes fall to the ground, unsure of what was supposed to happen next.
The stranger approaches her, crouched so he was eye-level with her, studying her face like she was a specimen he hadn't decided how to label. Jade swallows the lump in her throat, trying to hold back her panic when the man finally speaks.
"The name's Aamon," he said. His voice was cold and hollow, the kind of calm that didn't belong in a scene like this. "I didn't kill them. Though they would deserve it." His gaze slid back to the unconscious men, uncaring.
"I don't think it's necessary to explain their burns," he continued, as if that was a reasonable thing to say, "and I don't know what lab you're referring to."
Then his eyes returned to her, and something in his tone sharpened.
"However… I think you owe me a favor or two now."
Jade's whole body went rigid. He rose to his full height, Jade's eyes follow him up. He towers over her. Fear crawled up her spine, cold and immediate. He looked like the kind of man who could take whatever he wanted, with or without permission.
Aamon watched her expression change and lifted an eyebrow. The first flicker of what could be curiosity.
"Since you seem to lack common courtesy," he said, dry as dust, "let me help you. When one introduces themselves, it's only polite to do so back, is it not?"
Jade nods slowly, then swallows hard. "My name is Jade," she whispered. The words squeezed through her throat like sandpaper on bricks. She lifted a trembling hand for a handshake, because that was what people did. Aamon scrunches his nose as he stared at her hand like it was something rotten.
After a beat, Jade lowered it, cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Thank you," she said, softer. "I… I don't know how to repay you."
Aamon exhaled hard, turning slightly away as if she had exhausted him. Any amusment he had vanished in a heartbeat. "You're all the same," he muttered. "Ungrateful. Fragile. Mortals." He says more to himself than to her. Jade stared at him, fighting exhaustion and disbelief. His eyes still glowed. He felt wrong in the night, like something ancient wearing a suit.
He was fairly tall, with dark shaggy hair and although she couldn't quite tell from the black suit he was wearing, she was certain he must be quite muscular by the way he had handled those thugs. He didn't seem like he enjoy playing the role of a hero and Jade found herself feeling burdensome to him. But those eyes; those glowing red eyes were something strange. They seemed as though they had red embers floating in them, burning with the emotions Aamon seemed to lack. Jade shook away her thoughts as an idea came to mind of how she could repay him. "How about…I treat you to dinner? You know, as a thank you." Jade offers.
Aamon shrugged, unimpressed. Then looked her over again, head to toe. "You don't exactly look like you have the riches to satisfy my appetite."
He stared off into the distance, expression briefly unreadable.
"However," he added, returning his gaze to her, "I find myself… out of sorts. With nowhere to go at the moment. So whatever you can manage will do."
Jade nearly groaned out loud. Why did she say that? It was past midnight. She was exhausted. Her whole body felt bruised. And tomorrow, she'd have to pretend nothing happened at the lab. Going out for a bit to eat was the last thing on her mind right now. Still, she'd offered. And he'd saved her. She rubs her temples, feeling a headache creeping in on her. She hadn't considered the time before offering the man dinner.
She opened her mouth to explain that everything would be closed, to offer breakfast instead, but her brain lagged behind her mouth again.
"Well," she said carefully, "this is a little… unconventional. Normally I wouldn't even consider it, but given the time and circumstances, the only way I can offer you a meal is to invite you back to my place."
Aamon's eyebrow lifted again, faintly entertained.
"Don't misunderstand the offer," Jade snapped, panic turning into stubbornness. "It's just the only option. I am not offering you anything more than dinner."
Aamon nodded slowly, like he was granting her request. "I suppose that is acceptable." The words fall from his lips slow, in low tones that fall to the ground with a dullness she didn't know was possible in a voice.
Jade shuddered, clearing her mental fog and pointed down the road. "My place is that way. If you don't mind, I'd really like to get moving." Her eyes flicked toward the thugs. One of them stirred, groaning.
"I'm exhausted," Jade said, voice tight, "and I don't want to stick around long enough for them to get back up."
A cold smile ghosted across Aamon's face as he gestured for her to lead.
"You say that as though you believe me incapable of handling that situation."
Jade's stomach tightened. "And you say that like you'd be happy to do so."
She turned and started walking, trying not to look back as a cold chill climbs up her spine.
Just who the hell is this man?