My heart shot up into my throat and landed there like a clump of nausea I couldn’t swallow down. Every hair on my arms stood to attention and begged for the world to open up beneath me and yank me into the darkness. I’d probably land in a nest of subway rats, but that would be a hell of a lot better than where I was now.

The hand that held the blade shot out toward my neck. I stumbled back, opened my mouth, and let out a scream that ripped through the night air. It was so loud my own ears rang. They could probably hear me all the way up in the Bronx.

Good. Hopefully someone would come running. I just needed to survive ten more minutes.

A low growl emanated from the attacker’s throat. He stalked toward me with narrowed eyes and a white-knuckled fist that gripped his knife.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he muttered. “I was going to try to make things painless for you. Nice and quick. But now I want nothing more than to see you suffer, you little bitch.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” I said with a smile that betrayed none of the fear surging through my veins like acid.

He stalked forward, and I took a step away. My ass hit the grimy wall. Shit. He’d backed me into a corner, and the only way out was around his beefy frame. My heartbeat skittered like a mouse.

“You have a lot of nerve for a human, but you’ve run out of options now.” He lifted the knife, angling the blade toward my throat.

I squeezed my hand into a fist and met his vicious gaze. My past flashed before my eyes, like a movie reel of unwanted memories. Dancing with my sister on the local playhouse stage. Running through the woods barefoot, laughing as we stumbled over fallen branches, scraping our knees. Dead eyes staring up at me. My sister’s sobs. My parents’ faces as they shouted at me to leave.

A tear slipped down my cheek. I didn’t want to die like this.

Desperation rose up inside of me in a sudden rush, like the waves against the shore. It filled me with an overwhelming heat. Invisible flames danced around my hand. The signet ring I’d tucked into my bra burned against my skin. The strange sensation built up inside of me until I could think of nothing else. It felt like it was going to explode within me, shattering me into a thousand pieces. Gritting my teeth, I let out a roar of pain.

The attacker’s eyes widened as a sudden, invisible force slammed into his chest. His feet left the ground, and he hurtled through the air, landing in a heap right in front of the exit of the alley.

My grip relaxed; my eyes widened. What the hell had just happened?