Page 93 of Catch My Fall
“Only for you.”
“That’s right. Only for me.”
∞∞∞
We make a quick pit stop for some food about an hour later, and I know we’re not far from home when the road signs start counting down the miles until we reach Halston, and the nearer we get, the more my stomach sinks.
Alec’s hand falls onto my thigh, squeezing reassuringly as if he can read my whirring mind.
We roll to a crawl at a red light. There’s not many cars around. The clouds grew dark a few minutes ago and the light drizzle has since turned torrential.
The light turns green and we begin to pull away. I glance across to him with a smile, only my gaze snags on something through the driver’s side window. Something ploughing straight towards us at lightning speed.
“Alec, watch out!” The words are out of my mouth a split-second before the vehicle collides with ours.
Everything happens so fast and yet in slow motion all at the same time. Everything playing out step by step in my mind, picking out every tiny detail.
The crunch of crumpled metal and smashed glass fills my ears, my voice swallowed up by a silent scream. For a second I’m weightless, the only thing grounding me is the seat belt strapping me down otherwise I’d think I was flying.
My head jolts to the side harshly, smashing against the side pillar as we finally stop rolling. The car’s on its side with my head just inches from the road.
The pain in my skull feels like its being prised in half. The ringing in my ears so loud it pierces through me.
The windshield has completely smashed, and a cold draft sweeps in, chilling my skin.
Footsteps grow nearer, broken glass crunching underfoot as whoever it is gets nearer to the car.
I try to turn my head but pain shoots down my neck and I wince.
“Could you have hit them any harder? Boss wants her alive, you idiot. What good is she to us if she’s already dead?” An unfamiliar male voice asks.
I blink my eyes open to see two sets of feet out the windshield, my vision dark and fuzzy around the edges.
“You said ram them. Have you not noticed the size of this thing? I had to do it hard to have any effect,” the other replies.
“Boss won’t be happy about this.”
“What do we do with him?”
Him? Who’s him?
My brain hurts to try and think, but there’s something niggling there. Who are they talking about?
I force my mind back to before the crash. An image flashes in my mind of a strong hand on my thigh, a hand that wasn’t my own. A familiar hand…
Oh my God…
Alec.
They’re talking about Alec.
“Grab her, I’ll deal with him,” the other one says, and the sound of creaking metal and rough hands grabbing at my limp body is the last thing I remember before darkness drags me under.
35
“Sierra… Come on, princess, wake up…” Alec’s voice is the first thing I hear when I wake, the dense fog that clouds my mind slowly fading away.
The ache in my neck has me wincing from the odd angle it’s bent at, but it’s not the only place that hurts.