Page 49 of Damsel in Defense
Cars are everywhere—crossing in front of us, crawling into their lanes from the side.A navy SUV is directly ahead, inching through with a green light.I jerk the wheel hard to the right, trying to angle away from the worst of it.
It’s like moving through molasses.The tires squeal; the steering jerks under my hands.Horns explode all around us, a frantic chorus of warnings I can’t do anything about.
My chest slams into the seat belt, pain lancing through my shoulder as the car refuses to obey.
The impact hits like thunder.
A massivecrack, metal shrieking against metal, glass bursting in a spray of light and sound.My head snaps forward and then sideways, everything spinning as the airbags deploy.Falcon yells something, but it’s muffled and feels distant, like we’re underwater.
The jolt tears through my entire body, the seat belt biting into my ribs as the world blurs to white.
A cold stillness wraps around me.My ears ring.I can’t tell if my eyes are open or closed.My chest heaves, searching for air that feels too heavy to take in.For a long moment, I don’t know if I’m upright, sideways, or somewhere in between.
“Victoria—Victoria!Talk to me.”
Falcon’s voice breaks through the haze, low and strained.
I blink, vision swimming.My neck throbs.My hand twitches, fingers brushing against the deployed airbag.I’m still in the car.We’re tilted at a strange angle, the front end crumpled into a lamppost.
“I’m here,” I croak out, barely able to hear myself.
Falcon exhales hard.He’s got a gash above his brow and a smear of blood on his temple, but he’s already twisting in his seat, checking his phone, trying to call for help.“Ambulance is on the way.Don’t move, okay?”
But I can’t stop shaking.
Because even through the shock, the pain, the fear—I know what this was.
This wasn’t an accident.
Someonecutmy brakes.
And then everything goes black.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
MASON
Something’s off.
I can feel it.Like a knot in my gut that keeps pulling tighter with every passing minute.
Victoria should’ve been back by now.
It’s been over an hour since she left to get that damn notebook.I’d already finished my recovery workout and sandwiches for Victoria and me.I thought she’d be back before they got soggy.
Even Falcon hasn’t notified me in a while.Usually I get updates, but maybe they’re too busy rocking out in the car, or maybe they went to pick up food.It’s possible.
Yet my gut is telling me something else.
I check my phone again.Still nothing.
No text.
No missed call.
Just a growing sense of dread that settles behind my ribs like lead.
I pace the kitchen, phone to my ear as I call her for the third time.
