Run: 2026-05-27-01KSMEMVKAHTVCB8SZWBC62ZBQ

The Raven's Nest was quieter than usual on this chilly Tuesday night. A few stragglers huddled over their drinks, deep in quiet conversation. Silas polished the already spotless bar counter, his eyes darting to the corners cautiously while he listened to the murmured chatter. Rory sat in the back corner booth, nursing a gin and tonic. The amber liquid sparked under the dim lights as she swirled the glass. She'd always hated the taste of gin, but tonight she didn't care. It was warm and it was a distraction from her swirling thoughts. The bell over the entrance chimed. Rory glanced up to see who was coming in. Her heart skipped a beat, then raced. It couldn't be... The man stepped into the light and Rory's breath caught in her throat. Twenty pounds heavier, a nose that had been broken and badly set, a scar slashing across his right eyebrow... but it was him. After all these years. Evan, her ex, or the man she had once called Petey. The man who had beaten her and would have sent her into an early grave if the police hadn't saved her. Evan the abuser, not Petey the safety and support she had counted on. He stood there, looking smaller than he had loomed in her mind's eye, wearing a shabby coat. Old domestic tension arced through her, but she tried to stay calm. He hadn't recognized her yet, she knew. Silas had warned her that he was likely to show up, but she hadn't expected it to be tonight. Fuck. Silas. He would be giving her the signal that Evan was there and she needed to go to the back room soon, the one with the secret exit to the alley behind the bar. Her paranoid old friend, a retired spy, knew all the tricks. Instead of waiting for it, she decided to pretend she had to step out to the ladies' room. The hallway was gloomy and smelled faintly of bleach. She hadn't been in here since the day Silas had taken her under his wing and given her a job in the bar, had retreated from the flat above it and started her new, strenuous career at the restaurant. Rory had needed that job, and she needed Silas. Needed a reset, a new place to exist in. She had felt lighter in her body for the first time in years when she'd opened up a new email account and put the "position available" at the top of it. And then Evan's arrival caught her off guard, sent her receptors jangled and teeth clenched. The toilet flushed. Blue light, a phone. Was Silas warning her? The bathroom door opened. Turning, Rory found herself nose to nose with Evan. Time stood still. "Well, wouldn't you know, if it ain't Laila there on her own," he said in an accent Rory used to love so much. She loved it still, until his mouth opened and she heard the slurring beginning of drunkenness. "Don't we know each other, pet?" Rory recoiled, mind racing. Were they safe here in the bathroom? She glanced at her phone to make sure it was taking video, then set it down on the sink. "Peyton, what the hell do you want?" His lazy eyes narrowed, lips curling, his vinegar breath washing over her. "Don't you recognize me, Malphora? What's gotten into you, bitch? You know me. I'm your boy." "Cut the crap, Evan. I will scream," she said icily. She'd already imagined his hands on her, choking her. But no, he wouldn't dare. Not with Silas out there. Silas, who'd told her not to be afraid, that he'd have her back, that he'd protect her because she was his girl, his friend. "You're a fuckin' bitch, Laila!" Evan snarled. "Treats me like shit! And I'm trying to make it up to you here, where it's private between us!" "No. That shit ended 'when you tried to fuckin' kill me. So take a hike, dickhead," Rory said. "Leave before you get hurt." She was lying, really. She knew Silas could spring into mobster mode, bitchslap Evan, maybe even beat him to a bloody pulp. Their past shouted between them. Rory saw it all in his eyes- her faith that she'd be okay, their aborted wedding, really his possession of her, his snapshots of affairs gleefully displayed in her face and his fury when she tried to defend herself. She remembered it all, and remembered also that he'd killed her kitten, crying for lack of food. That had been the last straw. Evan charged at her, hands out. Rory lifted her fist. Bones crunched from within as his punch connected with her cheek. The world spun. "I brought you this far, you think you can just leave?" Evan roared at her. "Just like that?" "No, you silly sod, we're done! I'm done too, your shit ends now!" Rory barked, her fluency in slang returning from its absence. Evan lunged forward in his drunken lurch, hands reaching for her throat. Rory flinched, catching his wrists. Wrenching one hand away, she grabbed a shard of broken glass off the sink to slit his throat. If he touched her, she'd slash him, slit his neck from ear to ear. silhouetteed in the open doorway on caster wheels."Ellie's to catch up," she heard nicely, and she thought she might be crying, there was strangeness in her vision, liquid, and slippery in her cheeks. The next moment a pair of strong arms were wrapped around her waist, pulling her back from Evan, slamming him into the wall. She felt the punch from Evan's blow to her cheek immediately forgotten. "Get the fuck out, and don't come back," Silas said, characteristically calm, although his cockney had leaked out because he was angry. "I'm talking to Laila!" Evan growled, fury and drunken earnestness in his voice. Evelyn's cold and violent hurt still reverberated behind Rory's eyes. "You're finished, mate. Leave now before I hurt you," Silas said evenly. "Fuck you, you fuckin'-" The snap of Silas's fist against Evan's jaw shut him up. He slumped bonelessly to the floor, out cold. Silas turned to Rory, his hazel eyes filled with concern. "She really smashed you up, old girl. Let's get you patched up." "Damn. Haven't been called a girl in ages, Si. And I'll be fine." Silas scoffed quietly. "There's blood on your face, love. Let's get you cleaned up and I'll have a few Choice words with your spotty ex for you. How's about that?" Her head hung down again as he shrugged out of his jacket. She pulled herself into his hug, trembling, hearing his heartbeat. It was a timer flicked upright and swigging from the inside out.. "Wishing I never laid eyes on the bugger, Si," Rory said. "I've spent the last ten years trying to forget what he made of me. Now the memories are back, thrashing around in my head like a drug dealer with an attitude." "I know, pet. One sip of Vista she said "I'll say diddles," and she flicked him the finger. He disarmed her cart. At that, Silas laughed quietly, and gave her a half-hug. "Less Ya, more me. Come on, let's get out of here," Silas said. "And don't worry, love. I've got you covered." There was a moment of silence, and then they both burst out laughing.