"I've been looking all over for you," he said, his usual swagger uneven from the amount of beer he'd swilled. "Why'd you run off like that? I thought we were having a good time."
"Go fuck yourself," Maddie said. "I told you to stop."
"Come on, Maddie . . ."
"No!" she cried as he came closer and reached out to her. "Leave me alone!"
He got his hands around her shoulders and pushed her back against the wall, and this time she didn't have the advantage of a crowd of people and good leverage. She hit the wall so hard it dazed her and she dropped her phone. She yelled and struggled, but he ignored her and sloppily kissed her neck. He stank of Budweiser and cigarettes, and she could feel his erection stabbing her in the stomach. He held her back against the wall with his weight and groped her breasts, sticking a hand in her shirt.
Oh my God. Oh God, please, no, please . . .
She took a breath to scream at the top of her lungs.
Before she could, Matt was wrenched away from her and thrown hard into the far wall. Maddie heard something-she was pretty sure it was his wrist-crack.
Maddie was so relieved her legs turned to water and she fell back again, her planned scream coming out as a sob.
A figure stepped between her and Matt. She saw a long black coat and a wild cascade of red hair.
The woman couldn't have been taller than Maddie, but she reached down and seized the front of Matt's shirt and hauled him to his feet, then punched him in the stomach twice. He came at her, cursing a blue streak, and she took the opportunity to do what Maddie had done in the club-she nailed him in the balls with one knee.
Matt went down with a grunt, and the woman towered over him. Whatever he saw in her face, he whimpered and covered his head with his useless arms. "Please don't kill me-"
Her voice was calm and strong, and Maddie recognized it. "If you ever again hurt a woman in my city, human, you will answer to me. Now go."
Matt struggled to his feet and stumbled out of the alley, crying like a little girl.
Slowly, the woman turned to Madison. "Are you okay?"
Maddie stared at her: her luminous green eyes, her proud shoulders, the large red stone at her throat that looked like it was glowing.
"Holy shit," Madison said. "You're Miranda Grey."
The woman smiled. "Yes."
"You saved my life."
"Yes."
Madison swallowed hard and got up, dusting herself off and groping for her purse. "Um . . . can I have your autograph?"
end.