Axel leaned back against the grimy wall of the alley, breathing heavily, his chest heaving with every painful inhale. His body ached in places he didn't know could ache, bruises blooming across his arms, ribs screaming with every breath. The remains of his ruined car were behind him, twisted metal and shattered glass abandoned by the roadside. But he had managed to get away. That, at least, counted for something.
He had called a taxi with trembling hands, blood still dripping slowly from a shallow cut on his brow. The driver had barely looked at him when he climbed in, but Axel didn't offer any explanations. He gave Reiner's address, not his own.
Because he knew Thalia might be waiting at his apartment.
And he didn't have it in him to lie. Not tonight. Not with these wounds.
