Chapter 5
CASSIE
I came to consciousness all at once, panic descending like a heavy shroud when I realized I couldn’t see.
Had I been catapulted into an abyss? Were my eyes glued shut?
Then I remembered: I was blind.
Blind and trapped in my car on the mountain.
The constant darkness was disorienting, terrifying, and I had to fight against the primal scream that rose in my throat. I shivered, realizing it was colder than it had been before, which probably meant it was night.
Then I realized something else: there was a new sound, something different than the rustle of animals and the wind in the trees.
A disturbance in the forest’s underbrush, the snapping of twigs, the slide of dirt.
And then, a male voice cursing.
Someone was coming!
A brief inner battle waged in my mind. What if it was the person who’d run me off the road coming to finish the job? Maybe I should be quiet, stay hidden.
But no, that was stupid. I couldn’t stay here forever. I needed help. I’d have to take my chances.
“Help!” My voice cracked, like I hadn’t used it for a long time. “Is anyone there?”
“Cassie?”
Relief flooded my body. “Hawk?”
“I see the car!” Vigo said. “We’re almost to you!”
There was more sliding dirt, more snapping branches, more cursing.
And then, Hawk’s voice, only feet away from my face. “My god, Cassie… are you okay?”
“I don’t know.” My voice broke on a sob, all the fear of the previous hours swelling inside me until I couldn’t stop it anymore. “I… I can’t see.”
The pause was only a few seconds, but I could almost see Hawk and Vigo looking at each other, could feel their alarm.
“It’s going to be okay,” Hawk said. “We’re going to get you out of there.”
“My seat belt’s stuck.”
“Jagger’s calling 911,” Vigo said.
“I’m cold.” I’d started shaking, my teeth clattering like they had when I’d left the tunnels after the Hunt.
Broken glass clattered in front of me and I winced as something brushed against the front of my body.
“It’s me,” Hawk said. “I’m laying my jacket over you.”
The weight of his jacket was like a warm embrace, and I inhaled his scent, cold air and leather and the barely there tang of iron. It was more comforting than it should have been, and my panic receded, leaving me with a deep-seated dread that was far more ominous.
“I say we tear this car apart and get her out now,” Vigo said, an unfamiliar note of panic in his voice.
“That would be stupid,” Hawk said. “She might have injuries we can’t see. We could make them worse.”
Vigo swore, and I could almost see him bouncing on the balls of his feet, his never-ending reserve of energy spilling out of his body.
“Can you lift your hand?” Hawk asked.
I lifted my right arm and reached toward his voice. “I think I broke my left arm.
“Nothing a few weeks in a cast won’t fix,” Hawk said as the distant sound of sirens broke through the air.
“Thank fuck,” Vigo said. “Help is on the way.”
It should have been reassuring, but a fresh wave of panic rolled through my body.
Rescue was just the beginning. Once I was out of the car I’d have to face the reality of what had happened to me.
I’d have to face the fact that I was blind.
“I’m… I’m scared,” I said.
“We’re here, Cass.” Hawk’s warm hand closed around mine. “You’re not alone.”
And despite everything, I felt the truth of it in my bones.