Alicia’s face swims in my view as I try to push my head out of the car window to take a breath. “What…,”
“Don’t worry,” she taps my nose. “I’ll say your goodbyes for you.”
Fuck.
Fuck.
Sienna.
3
JAX
Ametallic taste coats my tongue, fills my mouth with iron as my eyelids crack open.
Where the fuck am I?
A blinding pain fills my head, making me groan as I struggle to sit up. There’s something in my way, and I blink slowly as the light filters in and I realize where I am.
A weight leans against my left side, and I look down to see Logan slumped against me, his head hanging down.
“Logan.” My voice feels thick, slurring, the words not forming properly in my mouth. Wetting my lips, I try again for something a little louder than the rasp I managed the first time around. “Logan.”
He doesn’t respond, and I turn my head blearily, eyes blinking until Gray swims into sight. His head is leaning against the window.
Clarity filters in slowly, too slowly.
The Mating Ceremony.
Sienna.
“Fuuuck.” Lifting my hand is a struggle, but I manage to whack it against the back of the chair in front of me. “Tristan.”
Silence, and my head clears a little more, leaving plenty of space for panic.
What the fuck was that about?
Leaning forward, I squint at the clock on Tristan’s dashboard. The numbers solidify, and my hand jumps to the door handle, jiggling it frantically. “Tristan! For fucks sake, wake up!”
We’re not just late, we’ve missed the entire fucking ceremony. Fuckingshit.
Our Soul Bonded will never fucking forgive us, and fuck knows how the Council will take it.
Undoing my belt, I lean forward and stretch my fingers past Tristan’s still figure to slap the lock, and the doors open with a click.
It takes precious seconds to stumble out of the car, to get my legs steady underneath me, before I’m able to open Tristan’s door. He’s slumped over into the seat next to him, his belt undone and his hand dangling down into the stairwell.
Not bothering to be gentle, I shove and lift until his body flops completely into the seat and I can slide into his place. We don’t have the time to wait around for them to wake up.
Fingers shaking, I switch the ignition on. The tires squeal with the smell of burning rubber as I swerve out of the gates, turning right and slamming my foot down on the ignition to get us to the Hub as fast as I can.
The sinking feeling in my stomach warns me that we might already be too late.
I put all the windows down as we fly down the highway, hoping the fresh air will help the rest of them wake up faster. I’m rewarded when I hear a groan behind me. “Jax?”
“We missed the ceremony.” Twisting my neck quickly before facing the road again, I take Gray in, pale-faced and swallowing as he blinks drowsily. “We what?”
My hand smashes into the wheel in frustration. “We missed the Mating Ceremony! Sienna’s there, on her own, and I think Alicia has something planned.”
