“Go get what I want, Lucy.” My tone was sharp, bits of glass ready to embed inside anything they touched.
Lucy moved slowly to the entrance of the narrow passage. Her expression wavered between defiance, uncertainty, and abject horror. With one last pleading look, she glanced at me, searching for an out. I merely stared back, unwavering and unrelenting.
Finally, she gathered her courage, squeezing her body into the cramped alley between the mangled frames. I couldn’t helpbut feel a thrill at the sight, even if a part of me twisted at the notion of putting her in danger. How often had I wanted to share this with someone? My brothers didn’t understand. But fixing cars and crawling through this junkyard meant to me what Nitro’s blades meant to him.
Lucy moved so slowly it was like watching paint dry. But she kept going. She didn’t complain or beg. She just kept going.
When she finally reached the Maserati, she was wedged so tightly it was a wonder she could still breathe.
A shout escaped her lips. “Kane! I can’t even open the door! How am I supposed to?—”
“Use your fucking imagination!” I shot back, not letting her finish.
Lucy looked back at the car, her head just about the only thing she could freely move, and then back in my direction. The beam of her headlamp hurt my eyes, so I looked at the dark sky overhead for a heartbeat, trying to get rid of the small glowing auras.
When I’d blinked away the pale spots in my vision, I found Lucy slowly making her way out the claustrophobic tunnel.
I leaned against the mound, putting my full weight against the tower of scrap. My weight made the entire thing creak loudly.
“Stop!” This time, Lucy didn’t sound a bit timid. Her voice rose and fell, all manner of emotion shaking up the syllables.
Instead of relenting, I doubled down. I didn’t passively rest my body against the wreckage pile, I stood up, pressed my palms against the bent fender of an 80’s Lincoln and actively pushed. Lucy’s terror reached a fever pitch as metallic creaks and deep groans from items long ago settled in place seemed to echo throughout the salvage yard.
“Kane!” She screamed desperately. “Kane, please! I’m going to get stuck.”
I don’t know what took over me. I could hear her panic. I felt it in my goddamn marrow. Yet, I pushed again.After this, Ash and Nitro will stop bitch’n. They’ll leave me the fuck alone.
By the time I realized I’d taken it too far, it was too late.
I angled my body, headlight ray tunneling into the dark space where Lucy was crammed. She was holding her arms above her head, pushing against something trying to collapse inward. My heart raced as I realized that the entire pile might come down soon… on top of Lucy. I wanted to shut my brothers up. I wanted to show that I wasn’t hiding in the garage and at Otto’s because I couldn’t handle a five-foot nothing Omega. I wanted to toughen her up, not trap her.
My pulse was in my mouth.
Beating. Beating on my tongue.
Lucy’s terror came out in waves, carried on her heady Omega perfume.
I had to get her out!
Moving as fast as I could without further shifting the pile, I stuffed my much larger body into the narrowing gap. It was tight, and only two feet in I realized I couldn’t get closer. I was nearly wedged in place sideways.
“Lucy, take my hand!” I yelled, raising my right arm, fingers stretched towards her.
Fear was made of a hundred tentacles, and it was reaching into every part of me, using toothy suckers to gain purchase and rip… rip… fucking rip me apart.
“Lucy!” I shouted again. She was still reaching up, palms pushing against what I could see now was a chrome wheel still attached to a rusted axle. “Give me one hand, Lucy! Just one!”
She listened, reaching one small hand in my direction. We were separated by mere inches. I had to get to her.
I pushed further, ignoring the pain in my back and stomach as protruding scrap cut into me. I must have hit somethingsharp, because dampness bloomed to the right of my spine. Who cared if I got hurt. All that mattered was getting Lucy out.
I could hardly breathe, the air was like molasses, too thick to be swallowed down properly.
Finally, mercifully, my fingers grazed hers.
“Kane, I’m scared,” Lucy sobbed, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Just look at me, Lucy. Don’t look at anything else.”
