Juliana moved fast, even faster than I could track.
One moment she was tackling a poor girl to the ground. The next, she was behind the guy who had me locked up in a tight hug.
She grabbed his collar and pulled him backward with a wrench of her torso. The guy's grip on me disappeared.
I gasped a confused breath and stammered out for my Shadow, trying to tell her not to hurt him.
But it was as if the dam of everyone's restraint around us had broken.
Suddenly, people started swarming around me, talking at me, slapping my back so hard I stumbled, clasping my hands and arms, even kissing my cheeks and forehead.
In moments, I was separated from Juliana and Michael.
"Thank the heavens you're alive!" a girl too close to me started sobbing, practically trying to climb my shoulder from the right. "If not for you, I wouldn't have made it out of that plaza!"
