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A sound leaves my throat as a tear cascades down ain "Please, Emily Be still"

I blink at the please His blue eyes soften andout to find the real threat--a threat my instincts inform me is worse than what’s in front of me

Oz sloithdraws his hand from my mouth and the flood of cold air on my face causes me to tremble He continues to lower his hand to his hip and wraps his fingers around the hilt of a blade stuck inside a leather sheath

There’s activity beyond us A slow tapping of a boot against the sidewalk A scrape coainst the concrete wall Then a shadow Large Loo The head of the dark shadow hits near my feet

"The water bottle" My lips move

Oz tilts his head as if he sees the shift in ns inside my mind Oz can kill me or Oz can save me or Oz can do one now and then another later

The footsteps begin again, echoing closer to our hiding spot Fear gains in strength, causing a wave of dizziness to wash over me Oz weaves an ared into the corner and he’s positioned near the threat

Heat builds between us and ently guide me into the extreles with a cord and I trip to the right My hand snaps out and I grab on to Oz’s belt loop as both of his hands land on ainst each other Warmth rolls off his body and onto hout ht nearly shakes with it

Oz does a strange thing He sles when he swipes his thumb under my shirt and across the sensitive skin of ainst ainst body Thighs against thighs Waro far that night We didn’t go far at all--not e here pressed between a wall and Oz, my entire body becomes aware

"If he finds us," he breathes intountil you lock yourself in the room Then you call Eli"

Oz pulls back and our noses almost touch I strain to listen No footsteps No sound beyond my own frantic breaths Then a thu My stoetting closercloser So close that it’s next to us

My eyes flash to Oz’s I’m about to explode out of aze, never once looking elsewhere The bottle continues to roll awayawayto the point I believe that the sound I hear is only in er able to handle Oz’s intense stare, I lower s Oz eases a hand to the nape ofme to restscent of burned wood It conjures ies of bonfires on the beach S’hts by the fireplace as a child

Oz’s hand is hot oncaress An eternity passes Stars are born then die He relaxes his grip on ers curl into his belt loops when he tries to ? It’s still in my head and so are the footsteps, but I shake my head no