Page 4 of Knot Unwanted: Part Two

Fire.

Panic surges through me as I release my seatbelt, falling awkwardly against the door beneath me. The metal that’s pinning Finn is deep. Jagged. Terrifying. I can’t pull him free without causing more damage, but I can’t leave him here to burn either.

“I’m going to get you out.” My voice is steadier than I feel. “Just hold on.”

With desperate strength, I manage to kick open my door. Rain cascades in, ice cold, shocking my senses as I crawl out, then reach back in for Finn. But the twisted metal has him trapped, each movement causing fresh blood to well up, staining everything black in the moonlight.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper as I pull, knowing I’m hurting him, but I have no choice.

He doesn’t scream. He doesn’t make a sound. His silence terrifies me more than any cry of pain could.

Somehow, impossibly, I manage to free him from the wreckage, dragging him away from the burning car just as flames lick higher into the rainy night. We collapse on the wet pavement, Finn’s blood washing away in dark rivulets.

“Stay with me.” I’m pressing my hands to the worst of his wounds, trying to stem the bleeding. But it’s too much. His midsection is torn open. Jagged lacerations where the metal cut deep, and there’s a nasty wound on his skull. “Finn,please.”

His eyes flutter closed, his breathing shallow, body going limp beneath my hands.

“No!” The scream comes out raw, broken. “Finn, don’t you dare leave me.Don’t you dare.”

Time blurs. I’m vaguely aware of sirens, of voices, of hands pulling me away from him. I fight them, desperate to stay with him, but my strength is gone, used up in that final effort to save him.

“No pulse—starting compressions—” someone is saying.

“Severe abdominal trauma, possible brain bleed?—”

“We’re losing him?—”

The words detonate in my skull. Losing him.Losinghim.

A defibrillator whines.

Clear. THUMP.

Finn’s body jerks—lifeless.

Again. THUMP.

Nothing.

“Time?” someone snaps.

“19:42.”

A beat of silence. The lead medic’s mouth tightens. “Call it.”

No.

I surge forward, but two EMTs haul me back. “He’s not gone!” I scream, alpha command cracking. “Try again! TRY AGAIN?—”

They don’t. All I see is their pity as they look at me.

No.

“Finn…”

The world fractures. Sound drains away. All I see is Finn’s still face, his lips already turning blue.

I killed him.

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