Chapter 54

“Oy!”

I whirled, stepping away from Ben and nearly stumbling off the sidewalk into the road.

“Are you coming?” Ethan said. I felt Ben grip my arm and yank me out of the way, as a nearby car beeped loudly and drove past.

“Ow!” I pulled my arm from his. He hadn’t meant to, but he had hit the same bruised spot earlier that Perrin had taken full advantage of.

“Watch it!” Ethan yelled, looking both ways before crossing the street. Justin stood silhouetted behind him just outside of the lobby doors. “What are you doing?” Ethan yelled, approaching and taking me in. “Did you hurt her? And who the hell are you?” He looked Ben up and down. Ethan had a few inches on Ben, but Ben didn’t challenge him, nor meet his eyes.

I looked from Ben to Ethan. “Ethan, this is Ben. He works at the archive.”

“Is it normal archive behavior to hurt you?” He growled.

“Calm down,” I said, frustrated. “And that was an accident.”

“An accident?”

I bore my eyes into his face, willing him to let it go. He seemed to g