Page 22 of Broken Bonds

Aidan swore and followed right on his tail, leaving my stomach behind at the imaginary line. I held in a scream, not wanting to distract him. He had to be focused. It was the only thing that would get us out of this unscathed.

It was so dark that I could hardly see. I only hoped Aidan could see better with the headlight in front of him. I closed my eyes, wishing this would be over already. The wind was pushing against us, and with every puddle he sped through, water sloshed onto my legs and shoes.

I wished I was at home in bed. I wished I’d never accepted those flowers. Hell, I wished I’d never pushed him for a date in the first place.

Aiden suddenly braked, but he braked too hard. His tires screeched, and the handlebars were ripped from his grasp as the bike spun out of control, throwing us from the deadly machine. A panicked, raw scream tore from my throat asAidan was yanked from my tight grasp, and we flew in different directions.

My body hit the ground first, and pain flooded through my system. The breath was instantly knocked from my lungs. My head followed my body down, hitting the asphalt with a hard smack.

I struggled to open my eyes. My head was pounding. My body was aching, but I couldn’t move my legs. A heavy, burning weight held them down, pinning me to the wet asphalt. Whatever was pinning me was hot. Too hot. I couldn’t take it.

Opening my eyes, I screamed.

“HELP!” I screeched, pain clawing at my throat. “Aidan, help!” His beautiful bike was in flames, and it was pinning me down.

I was going to burn alive.

I was going to die here all because he had to race the stupid prick with the better bike. Because he was too prideful. Because he didn’t love me enough.

Why hadn’t Aidan helped me? Oh, God, what had happened to him?

“Aidan!” I shouted his name over and over, screaming in agony as the flames licked at my jean-clad legs. I was going to die here on an abandoned road. I didn’t get to tell my mother and father I loved them. I didn’t say goodbye to Ryan before I left. Hell, I hadn’t even graduated high school yet.

What happened to the other guy? Didn’t he hear us crash? Didn’t he see us? Why did he have to race us? Where was he at? Why wasn’t he helping? Calling 911? Something?

Where was my phone? I needed to call for help.

I couldn’t feel my legs. I couldn’t feel my toes.

Oh, God, please let me survive this. Aidan still hadn’t answered me. Where the fuck was he?

Red and blue lights flashed in the distance, and the wail of sirens screeched in my ears, getting louder the closer they got. The lights were so bright, they hurt my eyes.

Had someone heard me yelling for help? Or had someone seen the flames?

I didn’t care how—I was so damn glad someone was finally coming.

They lifted the bike off me first, but I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t feel my legs, and I couldn’t bear to see how messed up they looked. I didn’t want to think about the pain Ishouldbe feeling. I had no feeling in my legs; it was like they may as well not even be there.

Paramedics and cops asked me question after question, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. My ears were beginning to ring, and my head hurtsobad.

I wished they would stop talking. I just wanted to sleep.

Where was Aidan? Was he okay?

Two men lifted me onto a stretcher, and pain flared through my body, a distressed noise tearing from my already raw and abused throat. Fire licked through my veins, the pain so bad, I almost threw up.

Then, I saw him. His helmet was off. His neck was bent at an awkward angle. A body bag was being laid out beside him.

An agonized, raw scream tore from my throat. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t breathe. Panic bled from every orifice of my body.

Something sharp pricked my arm, and my eyelids quickly grew heavy.

Then, in the darkness, there was no more pain, no blood, no fire . . . just nothing.

Blissful nothing.

“Celine! Celine! Wake up! Celine, goddammit,wake up!” I opened my eyes, glaring up at Ace. He looked half-crazed,shaking me from my flashback. My cheeks were wet from tears, my body damp from sweat. “We have to go, Celine! We have to go!” Gripping my arms, he yanked me out of my bed, throwing my discarded sweatpants at me.

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