Page 127 of Slay Ride

“Check for a pulse!”

I tear off my glove and lean into the car, but when I put my fingers to his neck, I feel nothing. My fingers are numb from bone-deep cold. I cram them into my mouth and suck, willing warmth into the tips, but it’s taking too long. Closing my eyes, I swirl my tongue around and around until?—

“Me next,” Bennett croaks.

My eyes fly open, and I practically throw myself on top of him. “Oh god, I thought you were dead. Where do you hurt? How many fingers am I holding up?”

Bennett smiles and rights himself with a quick shake of his head. “Calm down, Florence Nightingale. I’ll be fine. I’ve taken worse hits than this, but check on the driver.”

His fingertips go to the knot on his head, and he winces as he pulls his hand away. I’m surprised he isn’t bleeding.

Boots crunch beside the open door. “He’s gone, Bennett,” Kindra says.

“Damn.” Bennett swipes his hand down his face and unfastens his seat belt. “This is my fucking fault. I should have just asked you to come with me.”

“Yeah, you should have,” I say. “Instead, you decided you wanted to live on the island alone again.”

“Who’s going to the island?” Kindra asks. “I thought your mom was sick. Why are we going to the island?”

“No one,” I say. “I’ll explain later.”

Bennett moves to get out of the car, and Kindra and I try to stop him. He just looks at us and swats our hands away. I ease out of his way.

He pulls himself out of the wreckage and stands on shaking legs. “I still need to get to my mom. Nothing has changed. I’m not getting checked out by a doctor or any dumb shit like that. We have to get to the airport.”

“We?” I say, shocked that he’s willing to take me with him. I figured I’d have to sneak onto the plane, that he’d be too stubborn to let me remain by his side.

He doesn’t respond to me, though. He walks to the front of the limo and hangs his head. “Well, we aren’t going in this. Fuck!” His boot jets out and collides with the flattened front tire.

Kindra winces, then takes a cautious step toward him. “If you guys can wait here, I’ll go back to the mansion for help. I can’t call a car, but Ezra can.”

Bennett shakes his head. “I don’t have that kind of time.”

“Then take the snowmobile.”

Bennett and I turn to face Kindra.

“I’m serious,” she says. “Take the snowmobile. I’ll walk back.”

“You’ll get frostbite,” Bennett says. “I get that it would go with your frigid persona, but I doubt my brother will want to suck your toes if they turn black.”

Instead of getting angry, Kindra’s eyes soften. “Thanks for the concern, but my socks are double insulated, and the mansion isn’t that far off. I’ll be okay. And besides, this is mostly my fault, so I need to make it right.”

“No, it was my fault.” I step over part of the front bumper and stand beside Kindra. “I was the one who was too afraid to be honest.”

“Because of me,” Kindra says. “I made it hard, and I wasn’t a good friend. Let me fix it!”

“Freezing to death isn’t going to fix it!” I yell. “And there is nothing to fix!”

A snowmobile engine rumbles in the distance, and the three of us turn to see two headlights buzzing toward us. When they pull to a stop beside us, we’re shocked to see Ezra, with Maverick and Grim on the second machine.

“What are you doing out here?” Kindra shouts. “I told you I could handle it!”

Ezra climbs off the snowmobile and tightens his hood around his head. “I just wanted to be sure you were okay. I was worried about you, and aren’t you glad? You three would have been in a sorry state had we not shown up.”

Bennett motions toward Grim and Maverick. “And what about those two? Were they worried too?”

“Backup,” Maverick says with a thumbs-up.

---