Chapter 1 The Ambulance Never Came Back
The shriek of brakes tore through the rain.
I had only enough time to see the truck hurtling toward us. The next instant, it slammed into the rear of our car and sent us skidding sideways. My seat belt bit into my chest, and the window exploded beside my ear.
For several seconds, the world went silent.
The windshield wipers swept uselessly from side to side while the damaged horn blared nonstop. The car hung over the guardrail. Every slight movement gave me a glimpse of the churning river below through the shattered window.
I opened my eyes to the taste of iron. My left foot was pinned beneath a twisted seat, and broken glass had sliced open my arm. Blood dripped steadily onto the carpet.
"Adrian?"
Noah was still slumped over the steering wheel. The front passenger door stood open, and Adrian was staggering around the car toward the back seat.
Relief washed over me. I held out my hand.
He bent down, then reached right past me.
My fingertips brushed his sleeve but caught nothing. I called his name again, but he was already cutting through Cecilia's seat belt as if he had not heard me.
"Cecilia, look at me."
Cecilia sat on the other side of the back seat, a red mark across her forehead. The moment she opened her eyes, she grabbed Adrian by the collar and gasped, "My chest hurts... Am I going to die?"
Adrian tore through the jammed belt and carried her out of the car.
My hand stayed frozen in midair.
The car slid another inch over the edge. Adrian looked back and saw it, but all he did was yell at Noah, "Keep the parking brake on!" Then he carried Cecilia to safety.
Rain poured through the broken window. Noah groaned. I leaned forward and patted his shoulder until he opened his eyes again.
"Don't move. Rescue will be here soon," I said.
The reassurance was as much for me as it was for him.
Grant Medical Group's rapid-response ambulance arrived within minutes. There was only one stretcher in the back. The paramedics examined Cecilia and me and said neither of us appeared to be in immediate danger. But Cecilia kept complaining of tightness in her chest, so they wanted to perform an EKG first.
"Then take her," Adrian said.
One paramedic hesitated and glanced back into the car. "The other passenger's foot is still trapped. Someone needs to stay and monitor her."
"She's conscious." Adrian was already helping Cecilia onto the step. "The next ambulance will be here soon."
I looked at him. He should have stayed, or at least come over to check on me while I remained pinned beneath the seat.
Instead, he climbed into the ambulance with her.
"Adrian," I called before the doors closed.
Only then did he look back, his face showing nothing but irritation at being delayed.
"Noah is awake. He can call the next ambulance. Lia, don't make this harder for me right now."
Red and blue light swept across my face. The ambulance vanished behind the curtain of rain and never came back.
I stared after it until rain ran into my eyes. Noah called my name twice before I finally lowered my outstretched hand.
Once he was fully conscious, Noah used a tool to pry the seat away from me. He was about to bandage my arm when his gaze fixed on the wound.
It had already stopped bleeding. Fresh skin slowly pushed the tiny shards of glass out of my flesh, while my dislocated ankle grew hot and shifted back into place.
I quickly pulled down my sleeve.
"Don't tell Adrian. He'll be afraid."
The truth was, I was terrified.
I feared Adrian discovering I was a werewolf. I feared my family learning that I had married a human. Most of all, I feared that the peaceful life I had worked so hard to build was nothing more than a joke.
I had left our blood-soaked valley when I was 20. Adrian was the first person to hand me a cup of hot coffee and tell me he wanted to give me a home. Three months later, he proposed with a bouquet of white tulips, and I hid my fangs along with every secret I carried.
I still remembered how nervous he had been that day. I also remembered his promise.
"You'll never have to go home alone again."
Because I remembered, I kept telling myself that Adrian had simply lost his way for a while and would soon find his way back.
That night, I kept the pumpkin soup warm until after midnight.
When Adrian came home, his coat smelled of Cecilia's perfume. All he told me was that her tests had come back normal. He never noticed the blood-soaked blouse in the trash, nor did he ask how I had escaped the bridge.
I ladled him a bowl of soup.
"I'm glad she's all right."
