Knight In Black Leather by Gail Dayton (ebook reader ink .txt) 📕

Eli kicked it away and backed out of the man's reach, circling to put himself between Flash and Marilyn. Her stillness terrified him. He fed the terror into his cold anger, using it. He heard her whimper with massive relief. She was alive. He intended to keep her that way.

Flash cradled his broken wrist, glaring hate at Eli. The door at the top of the stairs crashed open just as Flash attacked again. He moved faster than Eli thought possible for one of his growing bulk, grabbing him in a bear hug, using that bulk and strength to advantage. Eli used his head, bashing his forehead into Flash's face, again to the sound of bone popping.

"Don't move. Police."

Finally, they'd made it into the basement. Eli moved carefully away from Flash who had both hands over his just-broken nose. When the first cop down grabbed the big man and forced him to the floor, Eli dropped beside Marilyn.

Her face was so pale under the bright streaks of blood and the red stain of new bruises. He was afraid to touch her. "Marilyn?"

Was the pool of blood around her head bigger? Oh God, he had to stop it, had to stop the bleeding. But if he touched her, he might hurt her worse. "Where are the paramedics?" he yelled. Screamed it.

"They're coming." Jackson's deep voice rumbled, calming him a little.

"Stay with me, babe." Eli touched her hand. God, it was bloody too. But it didn't seem to be the source of the blood. He dared to curl his hand around it. "Stay with me."

Her eyelashes fluttered and his heart turned over. "'Li?"

"Yeah, babe."

"Pete?"

"Safe. He's safe. He's with Joey. Rest now, okay? Help's coming." Tears streamed down his face and he didn't care.

"Slug--where...?"

"Slug?"

"Boy--here. Got out--"

The boy in Marilyn's coat. Had to be. "Yeah. Yeah, he's fine. He found me."

"Take care--"

"Of the kid? Yeah, okay. No problem." The kid was the reason Eli'd found her before Flash had done anything more than cut her shirt open. After he'd slapped her around and cracked her head. He owed the kid, big time.

Paramedics appeared with their boxes of equipment. Eli moved back to give them room to work.

"Eli?" She fought them, her head twisting. Hunting him?

"Right here." He knelt where she could see him, wrapped a hand around her ankle. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?" The word was barely a whisper, impossible to hear in all the noise around them as cops wrestled a screaming Flash up the stairs and paramedics worked over Marilyn. But Eli heard.

"I promise," he said.

Jackson squatted on the floor beside him. "How is she?"

"Making sense." Eli let go of her ankle as the paramedics checked for injuries other than the obvious ones to her head. She was moving her arms and legs, wiggling her toes when they took off her shoes and asked her to. A good sign, right?

"She nailed Dwayne." Jackson held up a bloody, three-inch nail. "Literally."

"Good." Eli listened to what Jackson had to say, what the police had found, unable to take his eyes off Marilyn, wincing along with her as the medics found the cut on the back of her head. They bandaged it, stopping the bleeding as new teams of cops swarmed into the basement with cameras, plastic gloves and paper bags.

"The kid upstairs, the one in her coat, claims to belong to you."

Eli met Jackson's gaze, understood the silent message, where the boy would go if Eli didn't go along. They could work out details later, but for now... "Yeah. He does."

More medics clattered downstairs, bringing the stretcher, a backboard and more equipment. They wanted to look at Eli's forehead where he'd hit Flash in the face, but he waved them off. He followed them upstairs and out of the house as they bore Marilyn off.

Joey stood on the sidewalk, both arms around Pete, when Eli emerged behind Marilyn's stretcher. "She's okay," he said. "She's gonna be okay." She had to be.

"Thank God." Joey reached out one-armed and pulled Eli into a hug. Pete joined in.

When Eli opened his eyes, still in the group hug, he saw the boy. Had Marilyn really called him Slug? He was standing near the ambulance. Someone had wrapped a blanket over the too-big coat he wore.

"Come on." Eli broke free and beckoned the others to join him as he approached the kid.

"Thanks, man." He put his hand out, willing the boy to take it. "You saved her life."

He stared at Eli's hand a second before shaking it. "Sure."

Joey was right behind, hand out. "From me too. I'm sorry about--you know, before. I went a little crazy, I guess."

The boy shook Joey's hand too. "Sure. I--no problem."

"Sir--" A paramedic put his head out the ambulance door. "Are you coming? She's asking for you."

"Yeah." Eli turned to go. "Listen, kid--Joey, bring him to the hospital with you, okay?"

"Gotcha."

Eli swung up into the ambulance, sat where they told him and clasped the hand Marilyn held out. He didn't understand why she wanted him here. This whole mess was his fault. But she asked and he'd promised. He wasn't going anywhere.

At the hospital, it didn't take the doctors long to agree that Marilyn's worst injury was a concussion, doubtless sustained from having her head banged against concrete one too many times. They stitched up the cuts on her head--the big one on the back and a smaller one right behind her left temple--and installed her in a bed upstairs to watch the head injury.

Flash had been brought to the same hospital and Eli took great pleasure in seeing his face swollen and purple as he waited for the busy doctors to find time to tend to his injuries.

Once Marilyn was in her room, the doctors allowed the rest of the family to come in and see her. She was asleep, tanked on pain pills, so they couldn't do more than look.

"She'll be okay," Eli said, looking at Pete's frightened face. "Her head's hurt so they're going to let her