Ian hauled his knee back and smashed his foot hard into Kyle’s face.

“Ian!” I protested.

Sunny threw herself in front of Kyle—who was holding his hand to his nose and struggling to get to his feet—and tried to shield him with her tiny body. This knocked him off balance, back to the floor, and he groaned.

“C’mon,” Ian snarled, dragging me away from them without a backward glance.

“Ian —”

He wrenched me roughly along, making it impossible for me to speak. That was fine. I had no idea what to say.

I saw everyone’s startled face flash by in a blur. I was worried he was going to upset the unnamed woman. She wasn’t used to anger and violence.

And then we jerked to a stop. Jared was blocking the exit.

“Have you lost your mind, Ian?” he asked, shocked and outraged. “What are you doing to her?”

“Did you know about this?” Ian shouted back, shoving me toward Jared and shaking me at him. Behind us, a whimper. He was scaring them.

“You’re going to hurt her!”

“Do you know what she’s planning?” Ian roared.

Jared stared at Ian, his face suddenly closed off. He didn’t answer.

That was answer enough for Ian.

Ian’s fist struck Jared so fast that I missed the blow—I just felt the lurch in his body and saw Jared reel back into the dark hall.

“Ian, stop,” I begged.

“You stop,” he growled back at me.

He yanked me through the arch into the tunnel, then pulled me north. I had to almost run to keep up with his longer stride.

“O’Shea!” Jared shouted after us.

“I’m going to hurt her?” Ian roared back over his shoulder, not breaking pace. “I am? You hypocritical swine!”

There was nothing but silence and blackness behind us now. I stumbled in the dark, trying to keep up.

It was then that I began to feel the throbbing from Ian’s grip. His hand was tight as a tourniquet around my upper arm, his long fingers making the circle easily and then overlapping. My hand was going numb.

He jerked me along faster, and my breath caught in a moan, almost a cry of pain.

The sound made Ian stumble to a stop. His breathing was hoarse in the darkness.

“Ian, Ian, I…” I choked, unable to finish. I didn’t know what to say, picturing his furious face.

His arms caught me up abruptly, yanking my feet out from under me and then catching my shoulders before I could fall. He started running forward again, carrying me now. His hands were not rough and angry like before; he cradled me against his chest.