While one of the officers stepped toward me and the others to Kael, I moved quickly, shoving myself in front of him. He grabbed me by the shoulders and tried to push me out of the way, but I put up a fight.

“STOP!” I screamed, recognizing that I had been the one screaming the whole time. “FUCKING STOP! HE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

My pleas finally got through to two of the MPs, who then stopped the one with his weapon out. The tallest of the officers cursed and shoved at his partner, and I wondered how the hell these power-tripping assholes could possibly be protecting anyone. I couldn’t fathom why they were even going after Kael in the first place.

“What the fuck is your problem? He wasn’t even involved! He was trying to break it up! Give me your badge number or whatever I can fucking report you with!” I shoved the shorter officer who was holding the baton with everything in me. He lost his footing and stumbled back. The other two were staring at me but weren’t moving. I couldn’t control my anger. I tasted salty tears on my tongue and all I could think about was grabbing the baton from this fucker’s hand and bashing his head in with it.

“Karina, no!” Kael’s voice brought me out of my blind rage. “Come here,” he said, softer this time.

Everything was still blurry as it slowed down, but Kael was safe now, though limping to the curb, calling for me again. I went to him and sat a few feet away, catching my breath and trying really fucking hard to calm down. Kael’s hands were holding the bottom of his pants tightly around his ankle.

“Are you okay?” I asked him. I blinked away the tears that were stinging the corners of my eyes. I had dirt or something in them.

Kael nodded. “Are you?”

He had a cut above his eye, and it made murderous waves of anger flow over me to see him hurt. “Yes, but you’re not. I want to fucking kill them. How dare they come at you!”

He groaned, still rubbing his ankle. Kael’s hands were visibly shaking as he lifted them up and balled them into fists. After a few seconds, he opened his eyes and went back to rubbing near his ankle.

“Do you want me to look at it?“ I began to offer.

“No. I’m fine.” Kael stopped me in mid-sentence, yanking the pants all the way down to the top of his sneaker.

He looked past me, then to my eyes. “They’re coming. Answer their questions and try to stay calm. If you don’t, it will only incite them further.”