I stand over him, panting.
The truck skids again. The back doors are still wide open, the road a blur beneath them.
Behind us, Noah’s van hugs our tail, just far enough for Jace, Tex, and Preston to cling to the edge, faces grim, arms braced on the reinforced frame.
“Throw it!” Jace barks, his voice ripping through the wind.
Luca yanks open the nearest crate, sweat dripping into his eyes. “Got it.”
I grab the first wrapped prototype, fingers slipping slightly from the blood still dripping down my wrist, and heave it across the open gap. The wind catches it?—
Tex lunges and nabs it with both hands, nearly losing his balance.
“Again!” Jace orders.
Luca pulls another out, grunting, his wound clearly slowing him. “This one’s heavier?—”
“I got it,” I say, shoving him aside gently. I brace my foot, wind up like a pitcher, and launch the case toward Jace. He catches it one-handed, his strength absurd, and shoves it behind him into the van’s holding bay.
The truck jostles again.
We almost lose footing.
“Speed bump in ten—hang tight or you’re roadkill,” Noah calls out.
Luca wobbles as the truck jolts, and I grab his hoodie just in time.
“You okay?”
He nods, teeth gritted. “Last crate.”
We drag it together, set it just inside the open threshold. The wind howls, the canyon flashing by in a blur of jagged rock and pine.
Jace meets my eyes.
“Together?” I call.
He nods once.
Luca and I heave, and Tex catches it, both feet planted wide as he slides it into the van. “That’s all of them!”
“Jump!” Jace yells.
My heart pounds in my throat. The van looks so much farther than it did a second ago.
Luca turns to me, breathing hard. “You ready?”
“No,” I say honestly, then take off running anyway.
We jump—leaping from steel to steel, weightless in freefall. My knees slam down hard on the van, and I skid, fingertips clawing for purchase.
Jace’s hand snags my arm. “Got you.”
He hauls me up just as Tex grabs Luca. The adrenaline doesn’t drain out of me—it rips away, like someone’s snapped a cord and left me raw and frayed.
Luca collapses against the van’s wall, breath hitching as he pulls off his helmet.
“Luca?” I pull off my helmet and shift toward him, reaching for his shoulder.
