//CLARA//
Calloused fingers dug into my throat. It was the second guard, the one with the thick scar running from temple to jaw who had been eyeing me like meat.
Then the world splintered. The door exploded inward, wood spraying like shrapnel, and the grip vanished.
Through the haze I saw Gary charged through the wreckage.
Before the guards could even register the intrusion, Gary moved. One moment he was in the doorway, the next he was inside the room, and the guard who had been advancing on my left suddenly crumpled with a sound like a sack of flour hitting the floor.
Gary's elbow had found his temple, and even as that man fell, Gary's boot was already connecting with the knee of the third guard, the crack of bone audible over my ragged breathing.
"Gary—"
His eyes found mine momentarily.
"You good?"
