Page 2 of Savage Obsession
Shadows of lumbering trees extending over the road, blocking massive amounts of snow from piling up on the road. But in its place is something even more dangerous.
Black ice. I don’t see it, or much of anything else, when the wheels of my SUV hit the ice. The blacked-out world around me tilts, and my stomach drops out as the car spins once, twice.
“Ohmyfuckinggodddd!” With every fiber of my being I clutch at the wheel and pray for dear life, but it’s too late. Nothing can stop what happens next.
Metal crunches and tree branches lash the sides. Glass shatters like sharp weapons of frozen water. Crystal shards slice into the backs of my hands and my cheeks. The only warmth I feel is the trickles of blood droplets oozing down my cheeks.
I notice all this in a split second before slamming nose-first into a snowdrift and flipping upside down.
The seatbelt locks tight across my chest, bruising flesh, pinning me breathless for a moment. But not before my forehead meets the hard surface of the steering wheel.
I will not panic. I will not panic.
Pain flashes white-hot through my entire body before the sting of cold rushes in right behind the flash of heat. Sharp wind shoves through the shattered driver’s window, spraying me with ice and snow.
I throw my arms up, but the blackness in my vision is more than just the lack of light. The inside of the SUV starts to spin and my eyes threaten to close.
I have to get out of here. I can’t give in to the cold. Half numb fingers fumble for the seatbelt latch. No matter how hard I try, the stupid button won’t give. My heart shudders and quakes in my chest. The hot engine ticks as the cold suffocates the heat from the mangled beast. The wintery world outside is nothing but snow and shadow. All street signs and landmarks are erased by the raging blizzard. I can’t leave but at the same time, I can’t stay here. I fumble for my phone and pray there’s a signal when I finally find it on the roof of the flipped SUV, but my hope dies quickly.
I lick my dry, freezing lips and work the freaking seatbelt again. Where can I go? I don’t even know where I am. How deep am I into Savage Reign territory?
Does it matter?
Maybe.
Depends if I want to die by their hand or my fathers.
If I cared enough right now, I’d choose one Savage Reign man I wouldn’t mind touching me—even if it was just to finish me off.
Silvan “Venom” Mercer. My God that man is a walking wet dream. The cold leaves my body for a second as the warmth of his memory shoots through me. Not that the Savage medicknows I exist. The truth is, I’ve loved the man from afar for all of my teens and now on into my mid-twenties. It’s always the one you can’t have that you want the most, and he’s had my attention for longer than I care to admit.
I let my lashes brush over the tops of my cheeks. Just for a moment. Kind of funny how the crew medic has a name like Venom. But I shove the thought out of my throbbing head. I need to focus right now and not think about some fantasy dream I can never have.
This is not a made up dream and the very real cold is working overtime in trying to end my life.
Panic nips at the edges of my mind. I blink tears out of my eyes, refusing to let myself cry.
Get out. Move.
For the first time in a long while my inner voice makes sense. I can die here or die out there trying to get to someone’s house.
A couple of jerks and something gives with the seatbelt. I tumble to what was once the roof of the vehicle and force my numb fingers to flex. Careful not to cut myself on the shards of glass sprinkled amongst the snow, I pull myself out of the flipped SUV.
I struggle to stand, but once I am free, I stumble several steps from the SUV before my knees buckle, sending me face first into shin-deep snow. The cold slices straight through my pajamas, gnawing at bare skin, freezing my toes inside my slippers. My breath comes out ragged and I swear every time I inhale pain needles through my chest.
Somewhere far off, wind whips through the trees, howling like invisible monsters. I force myself to my feet again and turn in a slow circle. There’s nothing—just white, and night, and the dark shapes of trees clawing at the sky.
No lights. No voices. No sign of anyone. Not even the white burst of high beams from an approaching car.
Shit.
That’s because no one is stupid enough to be out here. For a second, I feel how small I am, how easy it would be to just vanish in all this emptiness.
I close my eyes for a second. I mean, that’s one way of leaving the terror or my life behind.
I wrap my arms tight around my middle and trudge a few steps into the night. The snow soaks up every sound but my ragged breathing and the crunch of my slippers packing down the ice. I look up, snowflakes land on my lashes and my lips, melting on my cheeks like cold kisses that taste of salt and winter.
“This is insane.” I press a hand to my forehead and pull back a hand full of blood. Fog rolls over my mind and I have to physically shake it off. “What the fuck am I doing? Focus, Willow. I’m trying to do the right thing. I need to get to New Orleans.”
