Page 73 of Shattered Souls
Logan looks like he’s about to argue when Riley’s weak voice penetrates the tension-riddled ambulance.
“Bertram.”
I go rigid, and I’m not the only one.
“Here…”Fuck.“Aurora.”
My brows furrow, and I meet Royce’s confused stare.
She grows agitated, attempting to push herself upright on the stretcher until Logan gently pushes her back down. “Easy now,” he soothes, pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. “You’re alright. The paramedic here is going to check you out, but we’ll be right here.” He points to where Royce and I are standing before the paramedic nudges him aside, and reluctantly, he moves to join us.
“What do you think she meant?” he asks with a frown, eyes glued to her while the paramedic moves around, taking her vitals. His gaze snaps to mine. “Was your dad here?”
I shrug, not having an answer for that. “No clue. I just saw her running across campus. She has a concussion, so it’s hard to know…”
Logan and Royce level me with atell us what the fuck happenedglare, and sighing, I lift a hand to rub at the back of my neck. My shoulder is already stiffening up, and stinging along my arm has me glancing down. For the first time, I notice the rips in my shirt, dotted with blood from scrapes I must have gotten from the asphalt.
Staring at the dried blood on my skin, I go back to the moment I got out of my car and saw Riley dashing toward the parking lot like the hounds of hell were on her ass.
“I’d just arrived on campus…”
Distracted by my father’s new tactic to undermine me at the office, I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings until Icaught sight of a streak of familiar auburn hair from the corner of my eye.
Looking up, I stared in confusion as Riley raced blindly toward the parking lot. At first, I thought she knew I was there and was coming toward me, but then she veered off. Concern pricked at my skin, and I called out her name.
She heard me. She looked right at me, but instead of stopping, whatever she saw only urged her on. I didn’t catch a good glimpse at her expression, but her glazed eyes had me running after her before I’d thought twice about it.
Her foot hit the sidewalk before she raced between parked cars and onto the road… right into the path of a car that I swear appeared out of fucking nowhere.
One minute, the parking lot had been empty, and the next, this car was racing right at her… right for my Tempest.
I’d screamed her name, the tendons in my throat tearing as I pushed my legs to go faster. With no thought for my own safety, I ran in front of the car, wrapped my arms around her, and threw us to the side as the vehicle roared past.
My shoulder took the brunt of our impact, but with my arms around her waist, I had no way to protect her head as it smacked off the ground. I might have stopped her from getting hit by a car, but in that moment, I failed her.
The panic that flooded me when her eyes closed and didn’t open, no matter how much I begged and pleaded for her to…
I’d known this woman was embedded beneath my skin, but I hadn’t realized how truly deeply until that moment. Until I feared I’d lose her.
Blinking out of my stupor, my head snaps toward where she’s lying in the ambulance as if needing to assure myself she is okay.Hurt, but alive. My throat is tight, my chest pinched as I watch the paramedic fuss over her.
“She was supposed to be in a meeting with her advisor,” Royce states, rubbing at his chin as he thinks. “Do you think your father ambushed her when she got out?”
His question forces my attention away from the entire reason my heart beats. “It would explain why she was running… why she seemed almost afraid of me.”
“There’s no brake marks.” We both turn, finding Logan has stalked off and is looking up and down the parking lot. He turns his face toward us. “You said she ran out in front of a car, but there are no brake marks.”
I walk over to join him. My gaze roams over the asphalt, realizing that he’s right.
“The car was there.” I point to where Riley had run out from between parked cars before walking over and doing a more thorough inspection of the area.
“If someone runs out in front of you, you slam on the brakes,” Logan presses as I wrack my brain, trying to remember more than the sheer terror that lodged in my throat when I saw that car barreling right for Riley.
“I don’t remember hearing the screech of brakes,” I state with a frown. “Or the smell of burning rubber.” I’d been too fixated on Riley then. However, no one else came to see if she was okay. That’s what any decent person would do, right? In fact, I don’t even remember seeing the car stop. One minute, it was there, and the next, I was alone with a concussed Riley in my arms.
The sound of a throat clearing has all three of us whirling toward the ambulance. The paramedic pales at whatever he sees in our expressions. “We’re taking her to the hospital now.Oneof you can join us. The other two can follow.”
Logan and I both step forward.
