He pressed a kiss to my lips and pulled the door shut behind him.

“Who’s Broudou?”

But he was already gone. I hurried to open it again and skidded to a halt. Two large guys stood against the hallway. Their gazes met mine and I knew I had inherited two bodyguards.

“Are you kidding me?”

One of them shook his head. “Sorry. Mason doesn’t want you out there. It’s for your safety.”

An angry breath left me in a rush and my hands formed into fists. Then I heard from the hallway, “What are you guys doing?”

The response was muffled. “Mason’s girl is in there.”

The first person snorted in disgust. “Are you serious? It’s not the eighteenth century. I’m sure she’ll be fine.” And then the door was ripped open.

I blinked at the sight of Kate in front of me. A slight sneer was on her face, but she gestured with her head down the hallway. My gaze slid over her and saw the rest of their friends. They had formed a barrier between the two bodyguards and me. Then Jasmine purred as she ran her hand up the guy’s leg. “Come on, Strauss. Let her go. She’s smart. She’s not going to be stupid and do anything stupid. He wouldn’t be with her if she did.” She tugged him forward. “Let’s use that room for something else.”

My eyes went wide. She’d do that for me?

And then I saw Jeff in the hallway. He met my gaze and let out a sigh in relief. “Come on, Becky wanted me to find you. We’re heading out.”

Mason asked me to stay…

Kate snapped, “Go!”

I took off running and rushed past him down the hallway. He kept close behind. As we went down the stairway, a large crowd had formed in the living room, but everyone was pushing to get outside. Then I heard shouts from outside and knew that was where Mason and Logan had gone. When I started for the front door, against the swell of people, Jeff grabbed my arm and tugged me after him. He led into the kitchen. Another large crowd was in there as well, but he shoved towards the back door.

It seemed to take forever, but we managed to push our way through. As soon as I stepped onto the back deck, I heard my name shouted and twisted around.

Adam and Mark stood with the rest of the Elite group. My eyes went wide when I saw relief on all their faces, but I didn’t care. I hopped off the first deck and rounded the side of the house.

“Sam!” Adam shouted after me. “Where are you going?”

Jeff cursed behind me and grabbed to stop me.

I twisted my arm free and kept going. More people lingered on the front lawn. As I started to push my way through a crowd on the edge, I saw the street was full of cars. A line of cars were parked on both sides of the street, but there was a line of waiting cars in the middle. I counted seven of them. When people spilled out of them in black and orange colors, I knew they didn’t come from either of the high schools in Fallen Crest.

They were Roussou people.

I gulped but started to shove forward again. Then I was pulled backwards in one violent yank. Two arms wrapped themselves around me. I tried to kick out of Adam’s hold. “Let me go!”

He bent forward, but held tight. “Don’t, Sam. He wouldn’t want you there.”

I kicked even more. “I have to be there. They can’t hurt them again.”

“Sam, come on.” Jeff stood close on the side. His hand had a cement hold on his hair. He kept glancing from the crowd to me. “Be real here. You can’t help. It’s a dude fight. You’d get slaughtered.”

Adam added, “And they’d know who you are. They don’t know about you. That’s key.”

Emily had come up to us. With a worried look on her face, she frowned at me. “Sam, give it up. These guys are scary. If he wanted you out there, he would’ve taken you with. Mason and Logan are smarter than that. They’re looking out for you. Come to the back with us.”

A police siren screeched through the air. The crowd went silent for a second. There was still pushing somewhere ahead, but then another siren went off and the crowd turned into a mob. Instead of fighting to get away, I tried to push myself farther up in Adam’s arms. I scanned the crowd. “Where’s Becky?”

“She went with the stoners. They’re in the back.”

Adam scooped an arm around my waist and he hauled backwards. The rest of the group ran with him. As he carried me through the crowd, Mark and Peter took each side. Jeff jogged behind us. Emily was behind him and then they tried to clear a path the rest of the way. I tried to climb up, but Adam grunted in protest. It didn’t matter. I climbed onto his back and scanned through the crowd.

Everyone scattered in all directions.

Mark and Peter were trying to help our group run past a few houses before we started to circle back around.

After a while, as the crowd had thinned around us and the Elite group was alone, Adam allowed me back to the ground. As soon my feet touched the ground, I whipped past them and took off in a sprint.

“Sam!”

Jeff groaned. “Let her go. She runs for crazy.”

Someone took pursuit.

“Seriously, Quinn! Let her go. You’re not going to catch her. You’re too winded, she’ll outgo you.”

And I did. It wasn’t long before I stopped hearing his footsteps, but a thrill rushed through me. I went faster and I darted from house to house. As I went, I tried to gauge where Ethan’s house was, and then I circled around from the right.

I kept running.