Chapter 5 #2
I threw up into my lap, my foot still pressed into the accelerator.
Tears burned down my cheeks, and I reached over to crank the window, letting cooler air in to try to get rid of the stench of my vomit.
My hands shook on the steering wheel when I had to slow down to enter a town, but I made it through without anyone taking notice of me, and as soon as the speed limit kicked back up, I pressed the accelerator down again, my arms tensed, my back screaming in agony as I leaned forward to see better, my vision blurring once more.
I had to get the fuck away from here. And I would.
I fucking had to.
Or, at the very least, I was going to crash and die trying.
The car rolled to a stop before dying right at a gas station. It was dark now, and the town I was in was mostly quiet with only a few cars on the street. I was a fucking mess, but I didn’t care. I didn’t give a single fuck what anyone thought of me.
I’d just barely escaped what would have more than likely been absolute fucking hell. I deserved to walk around looking like I’d just crawled out of a fucking crime scene, goddammit.
I angled out of the rank car and stumbled into the gas station. My head still hurt something fierce, and I knew if I looked at my back in the mirror, it would more than likely have some swelling and bruising. I could feel it.
“Holy shit, woman,” the younger guy working the counter muttered as he stared at me. Couldn’t blame him. I was covered in vomit. Blood was on my arms and shirt. I was pale and shaky, and I knew my hair was disheveled as fuck. “You need a hospital?”
I shook my head. “You got a phone?” I rasped, my throat raspy from lack of use for hours and being parched.
He nodded and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket, sliding it across the counter to me.
With a trembling hand, I grabbed it and dialed Carter’s number by heart, lifting the phone to my ear.
The guy disappeared from behind the counter while I sagged against it, shutting my eyes as Carter’s burner phone rang.
And rang.
Please fucking answer.
“Who the fuck—” Carter growled.
I sobbed, tears immediately streaking down my cheeks at the sound of his voice. “Carter?” I blubbered.
“Rachel?!” he barked. “Fucking hell, Rachel, where are you?”
I sniffled. “I don’t know,” I croaked. “But it’s been fucking hell, and I need help, and—”
“Breathe,” he told me. “The person whose phone you’re using—can you ask them where you are?”
I turned and blinked in surprise when I saw the stranger holding a change of clothes. “You look like you need to change,” he quietly told me.
I roughly cleared my throat. “I, uh, thank you,” I murmured. He set them on the counter. “Can you, uhm, tell me where I am?”
He nodded, rattling off a town name I’d never heard of before. Carter muttered a curse. “Stay where you are. Callan and I will be there in about an hour, okay?”
“Promise?” I croaked.
“I promise, little sis. Just hang tight.”
He ended the call, and I handed the stranger back his phone.
He jerked his head toward the back of the store.
“Go get cleaned up and changed. You reek, and I’m sure you’re uncomfortable.
And then, I’ll let you chill in the office until someone comes to help you.
” He flickered his eyes to the car. “I’m assuming you can’t drive it? ”
I shook my head. “Out of gas. No money.”
He nodded. “I’ll push it behind the store so it’s out of sight. So no one knows you’re here.”
Tears threatened again at his kindness. I had instincts about people, but my gut told me he was good. That he could be trusted.
And my gut had yet to let me down.
After cleaning up with hand soap and paper towels, I changed my clothes and shoved mine into a plastic bag the guy handed me from behind the counter. The car was hidden when I looked outside, but I could see the glare of headlights creeping down the road.
My heart lurched into my throat, fear thrumming through my veins. What if it was one of the Souls of Grim members searching for me?
“Go sit in the office,” the guy told me as the car began slowing to turn into the gas station. “You’re safe here.”
I believed him.
I slowly opened my tired eyes when a warm, calloused hand cupped my cheek and a thumb stroked over my skin. Callan was looming over me, anger, fear, and worry etched into his dark eyes. My lip trembled, but he shook his head at me—a silent warning to swallow my tears down.
“Come on,” he said softly. “You’re riding with me.”
I let him help me up from the chair, and when I stumbled, he splayed his hand over my ass, holding me to him until my head quit spinning so badly.
“I’m pretty sure I have a concussion,” I warned him as he led me out of the office and to a back door propped open by a brick. “And I’ve got a bloody steel pipe in that car with my prints all over it.”
“The car is being handled,” Callan assured me, his voice still low and soft, which I was grateful for. “You just focus on staying awake so I can get you home, okay?”
Carter was talking to the gas station attendant when we emerged out the backdoor, and he abruptly cut off the conversation, marching over to me immediately. Callan kept his hand on my ass as Carter crushed me in a hug so tight, I felt my bones grinding together. My lungs threatened to pop.
And yet, I never wanted him to let me go.
“Callan is going to drive you home,” Carter told me as he gripped my shoulders and stepped back, running his eyes over me.
He took my bag of clothes from me, not even grimacing like he normally would, even though the stench from the bag was enough to make my stomach roil again.
“I’m going to take care of everything else here.
I want you to focus on resting. We’ll see how you feel in the morning before we dive into everything else. ”
“She may have a concussion,” Callan warned him.
“Then keep an eye on her tonight,” Carter told him. “Hospital only if absolutely necessary. She’s being targeted. A hospital is too open and unsecure. Last fucking place I want her.”
Callan nodded once and then led me over to his bike. Gently, he strapped the helmet to my head and then tugged his on. And once we were both on the bike, I wrapped myself tightly around him, sinking into his safety and his heat, letting him thaw the coldness that had begun to settle in my veins.
“Thank you for coming,” I told him before he started the engine.
He dropped his hand and gripped my thigh, giving it a tight squeeze that settled something deep in my core. “I’ll always come for you, kitten. Don’t ever doubt that. Fucking always.”