Page 131 of Forsaken Oath

Time seems to slow, stretching out the moment until it feels like an eternity compressed into a single shared heartbeat. Our eyes lock, and everything else falls away.

There’s only her. There was only ever her.

My Eloise.

The collision was inevitable. He was gonna take her out, so I took him out first. But to hold her gaze as Whitehall’s car crashes into mine is a blessing and a curse.

My body is fluid and pliable, which means the energy from the crash will disperse more evenly. But it’s a fucking curse to see the horror etched into her face. It was a split second, but that look will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Metal screams against metal, the sound ripping through the night like the shriek of some prehistoric beast. The impact shudders through the frame of the Hellcat, rattling my bones and stealing the breath from my lungs.

For a moment, the world spins in a dizzying kaleidoscope of color and light. And I fall back to Earth, and everything goes black.

58

ELOISE

My foot slamson the brakes before my mind can even process what I just witnessed. The tires scream against the asphalt, the seatbelt biting into my chest as my body lurches forward from the sudden stop.

But none of that matters. Because all I can see is Beau’s car teetering on the edge of the bluff, metal crunching and glass shattering.

“No,” I choke out, the word tearing from my throat like broken glass. “No, no, no.”

I’m out of my car in a heartbeat. I don’t even think I turned it off. I sprint toward the edge of the bluff, my heart pounding against my ribs like a caged bird desperate for freedom. The other car, the one that tried to run me off the road, is crumpled against a tree, steam hissing from its mangled hood. But I don’t spare it a second glance. My entire being is focused on one thing and one thing only: getting to Beau.

Gravel crunches beneath my boots as I race forward, the cool night air burning in my lungs. Moonlight spills across the scene like quicksilver, casting everything in a haunting glow. Thecloser I get to Beau’s car, the more my stomach twists into knots, dread clawing its way up my throat.

The Hellcat teeters precariously on the edge of the bluff, its front tires hanging over the abyss. The passenger side is crumpled inward, the door caved in like a discarded soda can. Glass litters the ground, glittering like macabre confetti in the moonlight.

And there, slumped over the steering wheel, is Beau.

“Beau!” I scream his name into the night, my voice raw and desperate. “Oh my god, Beau,” my voice breaks on his name.

There’s no response. Just the groan of settling metal and the distant hoot of an owl in the trees. Dread curdles in my stomach like expired milk, and I sprint to the driver’s side.

My hands flutter, and my head is light from adrenaline. I don’t want to do the wrong thing, but fuck me, I need to get him out of the car.

I yank on the driver’s side door handle, desperation making my movements frantic and clumsy. But the door doesn’t budge. The metal frame warped and jammed from the impact. Panic rises in my throat like bile, my heart thudding painfully against my ribs.

“Come on, come on,” I plead, my voice cracking as I pull with all my strength. But it’s no use. The door remains stubbornly shut, trapping Beau inside the mangled wreckage.

Tears blur my vision as I press my face to the cracked window, my breath fogging the glass. “Beau, please wake up.”

A movement in my peripheral vision catches my attention and I whip my head around in time to see the other driver stumbling out of his car by the tree. I don’t recognize him, but that doesn’t mean shit. I don’t know most people in this fucking Gauntlet.

He sways on his feet, one hand braced against the twisted hood. Blood trickles down his temple, black in the moonlight.His eyes are wide and dazed as they dart from his mangled vehicle to the Hellcat.

Rage flares inside me like a match to gasoline. I run toward the other driver, my hands curled into white-knuckled fists at my sides. Gravel crunches beneath my boots, each step measured and seething. He turns to face me fully, his expression morphing from dazed to wary as he takes in my murderous glare.

I curl my fingers into his shirt and drag him with me. “You’re going to help me get him out of the car, or I’m going to push you off the bluff myself. Clear?”

“Wh-what?” He lurches forward a few steps, finding his footing when he reaches the Hellcat.

“The door is stuck, and I can’t lift him out of the window by myself.”

The guy sways a little before shaking his head, like he’s trying to focus on him. “What do you want me to do?”

I get in his face again, enunciating my words. “Get my man out of this car, or I’m going to kill you. Is that clear enough?”

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