Page 20 of Wreckage

Elena.

Elena, curled up in the student lounge, reading her books. Elena, tucking loose strands of hair behind her ear. Elena, ignoring the world, always just out of reach.

“Elena!” I shouted again.

Her muffled scream split through the cabin.

And then?—

Impact.

A bone-shattering crash.

A deafening roar of metal twisting and snapping apart.

My body bounced hard against the seat. Something struck me in the face.

I felt weightless for a moment—then crushed under the force.

Darkness swallowed me whole, doting out what little light there was, Elena’s cries in my ears.

Chapter 9

Adrian

Pain.

That was the first thing I registered—raw, hot, searing pain.

It radiated from every part of me—my ribs screamed with each shallow breath, my head throbbed so hard it felt like it might split open, and the rest of my body was a dull, heavy ache.

The next thing I noticed was the unmistakable, unforgiving cold.

It wrapped around me, creeping into my bones, making my fingers stiff and my muscles lock.

My ears were ringing. A shrill, high-pitched sound that drowned out everything else.

And then, my heart.

It was slamming against my ribs, racing, panicked. Terrified.

Because I remembered.

The plane. The impact. The crash.

I sucked in a breath, the icy air burning my lungs. I forced my eyes open.

Wreckage.

The cabin was a mangled nightmare—twisted metal, shattered windows, debris scattered everywhere.

Blood.

There was so much blood. On my hands. On my face. On the seat in front of me. My glasses were broken and on the floor. I must have smashed my face against something during the crash.

My stomach lurched at the sight of it all. At the acrid smell.

Troy.

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