Page 92 of Between Passion and Revenge: Part Two
“I don’t—I don’t know,” I stutter, taking a hard right, and flooring it.
Up ahead, traffic lights show I’m entering civilization, and the road behind me starts to clear. Everything still sounds sodamn loud, the wind whipping through the vehicle and hitting my face like needles.
I feel like crying; I feel like passing out with my heart beating out of my chest.
Part of me only wants Storm right now, despite the shit that’s gone down in the last several hours. Hell, despite him breaking my heart all those years ago. Storm should be here, because I know deep inside my soul that he’s not the one responsible for this.
The terrifying thing, though, is I don’t know who is.
Suddenly, there isn’t a vehicle chasing me, and the road falls completely silent.
Did I lose them?
“I think it’s clear,” I say, but I’m barely holding it together, looking around—left, right, rearview mirror, up ahead.
What the fuck just happened? Adrenaline causes my teeth to chatter.
Storm couldn’t have setthisup. Storm couldn’t. Storm wouldn’t.
My brain scrambles to rationalize the terror I’ve just experienced.
“Carjacking,” I blurt out, pulling my foot off the accelerator. The speedometer goes from sixty to fifty to forty-five.
“What?”
“Not Storm. I th-think they were trying to jack me.” There. That’s a reasonable conclusion. “That makes sense, right? They saw a c-car on the s-side of the road and decided t-to rob me. Good thing I drove off!”
I speak loudly, trying to moderate my tone.
“I need to figure out where I am and where I need to go,” I tell Yennifer, releasing a staggered cry when I spot a row of shops three blocks ahead.
“You need to go back. You need protection—you need Storm. What if you lead them here to the twins? That wasn’t random, Shae!”
My heart rate, which hasn’t recovered from the car chase, speeds up again. She’s right, but….
I stop at a deserted traffic signal. It’s early, and there’s one shop light on. A bakery. The scent of fresh bread fills the air through the still-open windows.
“I’m going to…” I take a slow breath, clutching my chest, and I whirl through the scenarios. I look back at the navigation panel, and my fingers shake. Airport or hotel?
Who do I trust? Myself…or Storm?
My fingers shake as I hit “Navigate.” The green light glows ahead of me.
“I’ll go to Storm,” I say out loud, blowing out a breath.
I lift my foot off the brake.
Rrrrrip.
My door wrenches open—a knife flashes—and before I can even think to panic, my back hits the concrete as I’m pulled from the vehicle.
My stunned silence only lasts a second.
I scream so loud my ears ring. My attacker only lets the sound continue for a few seconds before backhanding me so hard I flip over on the ground.
“Please don’t hurt me! I have children!” I shout, registering Yennifer’s distant wails and the mocking purple-orange sky.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” a dark voice grates out. Petrified shouts unleash from my chest as my assailant drags me away from the vehicle, gravel scraping along my spine and hair popping from my scalp.
