Chapter 183. Bad Luck

June POV

I call his name before I even realize I’m doing it.

“Hermes.”

My voice comes out thin, shaking, nothing like me. My fingers are trembling against the edge of the table, my chest tight, my lungs barely working. I don’t know why I look at him first—but I do.

And that’s all it takes.

Hermes moves.

Ted reacts instantly, grabbing his arm. “Hermes—don’t. Calm down. Think—”

But it’s too late.

I see it in Hermes’s eyes—the moment logic disappears. The moment something raw and feral takes over. He shrugs Ted off like he weighs nothing and steps forward.

The room seems to inhale.

One of the robbers snaps toward him, shocked. “Hey! Get back to your table!” The gun lifts, aimed straight at Hermes’s chest.

My heart slams so hard I think it might tear me apart.

Hermes doesn’t stop.

He steps in front of me.

Fully. Completely.

His back blocks my view of the gun, his body shielding mine like it’