Page 46 of Broken Pregnant Mate
A beaten-up pickup truck is parked sideways across the road, and several men lean against it, watching our approach with predatory eyes. My blood runs cold as I recognize the figure pushing away from the truck, stalking toward us.
“Vern,” I whisper.
“Your ex?” Ash asks sharply, her hand moving toward the glove compartment where I know she keeps her Amanzite stone.“How the fuck did he know we’d be coming along this road?” When I say nothing, she checks her rearview mirror. “Want me to turn around?”
But before I can answer, Vern steps into the middle of the road, forcing Ash to stop or hit him. His smile is exactly as I remember it—charming on the surface, cold underneath. His hair is still greasy, falling over his forehead, and with a startling, sudden clarity, I realize he’s one of the ugliest men I’ve ever seen in my life.
How did Ieverstand letting him put his hands on me? I shudder just remembering it now, and Ash must mistake it for fear, because she reaches over and takes my hand.
“Well, well,” he drawls as he approaches my window, his voice muffled through the glass. “Look who it is. Where’s that mate of yours, Emmy?”
I don’t roll down the window, but he leans close anyway, his breath fogging the glass. Iknowthat I can’t, but part of me feels like I can smell it, that sickly sweet stench of the cactus chew he always kept tucked away in his lip.
It’s a wonder he can get anything done, hopped up on a dozen different drugs at a time.
“Come on, Emmy, don’t be like that.” His voice carries that familiar wheedling tone that used to make me second-guess myself. Raising a hand, he taps his finger against the glass gently, almost playfully. “I’ve been worried sick about you. If you ask me, that guy wasverysketchy, kissing you like that, calling you his mate. I’m thinking he’s been taking advantage of you. Came out here to give you a little welcome party, coming home.”
Ash sits stock-still in the seat beside me, but her eyes dart around, like she’s trying to figure out the best escape route. I saynothing, not even wanting to look at him, hoping Ash comes up with something before we get stuck here.
Ahead of us, Vern’s guys are leaning against the truck, but I realize they could surround us at any moment, trap us in here.
“What?” Vern asks, his voice turning colder, his lips curling into a frown. “Don’t be abitch, Emmy. Especially not when you’ve come crawling back to me. That’s what you’re here for, right? Definitely couldn’t be you chasing after that little blonde boy, right?”
Despite my resolve, concern flickers through me, and my eyes dart to Vern’s. That blonde boy must be Aidan—thoughblondedoesn’t begin to cover the shades of light flickering through him, the soft silver undertones I can summon to mind any moment of any day.
“That’s right,” Vern says, tilting his head. When he yanks against the car’s handle, it makes me jump, and when I meet his eyes again through the window, fear pulses through me. “Your little boyfriend rolled through here a little while ago. Thinks he’s real sneaky—but he’s got another thing coming for him.”
No, no, no.
“Get out of the car, Emaline,” Vern says. “And I’ll be nice this time.”
“You know what?” Ash snaps, grabbing the gear shift. I get the feeling she hasn’t so much come up with a plan as decided she’s done sitting here, waiting. “Fuck this guy, and fuck this entire situation.”
When she throws it into reverse and guns the gas, I fly forward, nearly slamming my forehead into the dash before the seatbelt catches me. It’s going to leave a bruise on my collarbone,but I don’t care—it’s nothing compared to the relief of getting away from Vern.
But Ash slams on the brakes, making my head bounce against the back of the seat.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she mutters, eyes on the rearview mirror. Another truck is behind us, boxing us in.
“Get out of the fucking car,” Verner snarls, starting to walk toward us again.
“Ha,” Ash mutters, shaking her head. “Yeah, right.”
Throwing the car into drive, she races forward, swerving around Vern and heading straight for his little group of guys, still lingering around the truck. I brace for impact, watching as they drop their tough expressions and scatter, each of them screaming higher-pitched than the last.
I realize what she’s doing—she’s going to try and squeeze between the fender of the truck and the side of the cacti. More than anything, I want to close my eyes, but I can’t bring myself to do it.
Then I realize—we’re going to make it. Ash is going to squeeze the car through this opening, and we can get through, find Aidan, and warn him before he walks right into a trap.
But at the last second, someone jumps out in front of the car.
Oren Blacklock.
I scream as Ash slams on the brake, her own scream harmonizing with my own, loud enough to make my ears bleed. When it’s clear that we’re not going to stop in time, Ash swerves to the side, sending us through the wall of cacti—which are dryer than I thought—and catapulting us out on the other side.
“What thefuck?” Ash groans, scrabbling at her seatbelt to try and undo herself. “What ishedoing here?”
But something is off about the situation.
