Chapter 51 – Fists and Promises
Sam's POV
It started with footsteps.
Heavy, echoing down the corridor long after lights-out.
Elias and I had just left the common room, voices still low from our usual back-and-forth teasing. But the moment I heard those footsteps behind us, my stomach dropped.
I knew that rhythm. The drag, the swagger. Declan’s gang.
Elias caught the shift in my shoulders. “What?” he whispered.
“Don’t look,” I murmured, forcing my voice steady. “But we’re being followed.”
Of course he looked. Elias never listened when I told him not to. He tilted his head just slightly, eyes narrowing. Then his jaw tightened.
“Ward,” he muttered under his breath.
“Fantastic,” I whispered. “Should we run?”
Elias smirked. “What do you think I am, twelve?”
Before I could argue, the voices started.
“Well, well, look who we’ve got here.” Declan’s drawl oozed out of the shadows. He stepped forward with two of his guys flanking him, grins plastered on their smug faces. “If it isn’t the little rat and his babysitter.”
My stomach twisted. They were looking at me. Always me.
Elias shifted just slightly in front of me, like a wall of muscle and calm confidence. “Go home, Ward,” he said flatly.
Declan’s grin widened. “Oh, I think I’ll stay. We were just heading out for some… entertainment.” His eyes flicked to me like knives. “And guess what? You’re on the list.”
One of his buddies snorted. “Scrawny thing like him? He wouldn’t last a second.”
“Shut up,” Declan snapped. His gaze never left mine. “Though I suppose he might be useful for something. People like him always are.”
Elias’s voice dropped low. Dangerous. “Say another word, and I’ll put you through that wall.”
Declan’s grin faltered, but only for a second. “Careful, Elias. You can’t protect him forever. One day, you’ll slip. And when you do…” He made a slicing gesture across his throat.
My pulse hammered. I wanted to disappear, melt into the floor. But Elias didn’t budge.
“Funny thing,” Elias said coolly. “You’ve got three guys. I only see three. But if you lay one finger on him, you’re not walking away tonight.”
I whispered urgently, “Elias—”
But Declan lunged first.
It was chaos instantly.
One of his guys swung for me, but Elias shoved me back, taking the hit to his shoulder with a grunt. Then his fist cracked against the guy’s jaw, and the sound was sickeningly satisfying.
“Stay behind me!” Elias barked.
I scrambled back against the wall, heart racing. My hands itched to help, to do something, but fear had my legs locked.
Declan roared, charging at Elias like a bull. They slammed against the wall, fists flying, shouts echoing down the hallway.
“You think you’re untouchable, Cross?” Declan spat.
“I don’t think,” Elias growled, slamming his knee into Declan’s gut. “I know.”
Another guy rushed in, trying to blindside Elias. Instinct screamed at me. “Elias!”
He ducked just in time, fist swinging back without even looking. The guy hit the floor, groaning.
It should’ve felt like victory, but then Declan’s last man grabbed me by the collar and slammed me against the wall.
“Got him!” he shouted.
My breath caught. Panic exploded in my chest.
“Let him go!” Elias roared.
The guy sneered, tightening his grip on my shirt. “What are you gonna do? Pick between him and not getting your face smashed in?”
“Bad choice,” Elias snarled. And then he moved faster than I thought possible.
One second the guy had me pinned, the next his arm was twisted at an impossible angle, Elias’s forearm across his throat. The boy dropped me with a yelp, stumbling back.
I gasped, clutching my chest. “Elias—”
“Are you hurt?” His eyes flicked over me, sharp and frantic, even while holding Declan’s guy pinned.
I shook my head quickly. “No, I’m fine, I—”
“Good.” He slammed the boy into the wall one more time for good measure, then shoved him away.
Declan staggered back to his feet, blood on his lip, fury in his eyes. “This isn’t over.”
Elias straightened, chest heaving, eyes burning like fire. “You’re right. It isn’t. But if you touch him again—if you even breathe wrong around him—I’ll end you.”
Declan sneered, wiping his mouth. “You don’t scare me.”
Elias smirked, and somehow that was scarier than his rage. “You should be.”
Silence hung heavy. The hallway stank of sweat and tension.
Then Declan spat on the floor. “Let’s go.”
His guys staggered after him, shooting me dirty looks as they disappeared into the shadows.
My knees nearly gave out. I leaned against the wall, trembling.
Elias turned to me immediately. “Sam.”
“I’m fine,” I lied, my voice shaking.
“You’re not fine,” he snapped, stepping closer. His hand almost reached for my arm, but he stopped himself, fist curling at his side instead. “He could’ve hurt you.”
“But he didn’t,” I said quickly. “Because you—”
“Because I was here,” Elias cut in. His eyes locked onto mine, intense and unreadable. “What if I wasn’t?”
My throat closed. I didn’t have an answer.
For a moment, neither of us spoke. Just the sound of our ragged breathing filling the empty corridor.
Then Elias swore under his breath. “Come on. We need to get out of here before someone shows up.”
I nodded, legs shaky as I pushed off the wall. He stayed close, one hand hovering near me like he was ready to catch me if I fell.
But just as we turned the corner, a voice rang out.
“What the hell is going on here?”
Flashlights blinded us.
Two prefects stood there, eyes narrowing at the mess—the bruises, the blood on Elias’s lip, the scuff marks on the floor.
My stomach plummeted.
We were caught.