Her blood surges with adrenaline as devil-eyed wolves close in,
black phantoms unravelling into a whirlwind of shadows and smoke.
Her arms tighten around him, clinging to his warmth as the wind whips through her hair.
The earth rumbles beneath the convoy of SUVs raging at her back as her fiancé cuts through the blinding fog at reckless speed.
Headlights flare in the rearview mirror, tires screeching over the slick asphalt.
Her eyes shut tight as the Ducati roars, the speed knocking the breath from her.
Headlights blaze ahead.
He doesn't slow.
Behind them, the shadows swell, horns blaring, as a truck barrels toward them.
Metal crashes. Tires shriek.
A sharp, pungent smell hits her as Rhett veers past the truck with deadly precision.
She risks a glance as a violent crash tears through the fog.
A beat of held breath.
Then headlights pierce the dark, shadows rising, one after another.
Her throat closes as she turns forward, her pulse spiking at the wall of blinding fog, and whatever conceals beyond.
Her mind flashes back to the moment all hell broke loose.
Their cocoon of peace had been splintered beneath the low, distant growl of engines.
They were up at once, rushing toward the parking lot.
But when the bike roared to life, it was already too late to escape unnoticed.
A gunshot rips through the forest, sparks erupting from the asphalt.
The bike launches forward,
the force nearly tearing her away if she didn't hold on so tight.
They swerve through the streets as more shots ring out behind them. None hit.
Tears blur her vision as the insanity of it all rattles through her.
Please, let this pass.
Let it be a nightmare.
God—no, not him.
Not like this.
A scream catches in her throat as a bullet rips past.
This can't be the end.
"Duck!"
She reacts instantly, ducking as a broken branch lashes past.
The Ducati veers.
The earth trembles beneath the bellow of engines.
Black shadows emerge through the fog as Rhett turns to face them.
A gun rests in his grip.
He fires.
Tires scream.
Metal clashes.
Shadows swell, threatening to consume.
The gun bucks in his hand, shot after shot tearing through the air.
A deafening boom echoes.
Crashes follow in its wake.
One monstrous machine on wheels swerves, and collides into a tree.
Rhett swivels the bike, surging forward.
Behind them, a clamor of destruction follows.
Petrol and gunpowder and blood linger thick in the air.
Her pulse thrums, wild and relentless.
A single breath passes—
Then the remaining SUVs charges again.
Two paths converge ahead.
Rhett takes the left.
Gunshots chase them.
Fog thickens, swallowing everything.
They break past the smothering forest.
Hills rise on one side.
Open field on the other.
A landslide blocks the road.
Engines thunder through her bones.
Rhett opens fire.
One SUV flips.
Another slams into it.
Metal erupts, glass shattering, smoke choking the air, as another SUV surges in.
Gravel sprays as they swerve toward the field.
An explosion detonates behind them, heat bursting outward.
She glances back.
A black Porsche rips through fire and smoke.
"Hold on," he says.
She does, the field rolling beneath them in a sickening tide of bumps and slush.
The sun rises in a deep orange haze, spilling across the blue peaks of snow-draped hills.
The violent rush of a river surges up to her ears.
Then the growl of an engine takes over, swallowing the wind and water as they come to a halt at the cliff's edge.
Her breath shakes at the crash of waves below.
The Porsche slows.
More SUVs flood in.
An endless ritual of predator and prey, tearing apart everything that gives her life.
Her frozen fingers clutch at Rhett's jacket.
They're trapped.
Death awaitson both sides.
Doors slam open. Voices cut through the air.
"Stop right there!"
"Drop your weapons!"
Guns snap toward them, guards swarming around them in a blur.
"What now?" shewhispers.
He doesn't answer.
"Step off the bike!" a guard barks.
Rhett stares at the grey, clouded sky.
The wind lashes through her hair as her gaze finds Ishmael's.
Awraith of night and danger, set apart from the wolves that hunt in vain.
Unarmed, he steps forward, ignoring one of his guard's order.
She shivers under the calm intensity of his gaze.
The roar of water, the howl of wind, the frantic rhythm of her fiancé's heart against her melts into a fever dream.
And she feels it.
"Step down! Hands where we can see them!"
A heartbeat passes.
Another.
Rhett grips the throttle.
"Hold tight, Angel."
She leans into him, arms locked tight.
The engine roars.
And the Ducati surges—
And then—
Nothing beneath them.
Gravity vanishes
They fall.
Neva screams.
"No!" Ishmael's voice tears through the air.
The world dissolves as rushing wind spirals around them.
Green water surges up to swallow them.
Oh God—oh God—
The water explodes.
The sting of impactburns throughher.