Prologue
Hadley
Summer 2023
My arm snaps. The sound registers a heartbeat later. The pain takes a moment longer to set in as the weight of the bull crushes down on me.
Stars explode in my vision. The ground rises to my face fast.
The dull edge of a hoof pushes my shoulder blade into the dirt. Another kicks my head to the left.
Ringing fills my head as it lolls over the uneven arena ground like a plastic bag at the whim of a hot breeze.
Shouting starts, almost drowned out by the piercing sound tunneling through my head.
Bright colors mix with the legs of the bull.
A hat hits the dirt by my shoulder.
Hooves thunder up from behind me.
The shouting grows thicker, more harried, as the seconds tick over.
A blinding, crushing pressure drops on my vest.
Ribs snap and something pops like a party balloon inside my chest.
A hard skull, tipped with ivory, digs into my side and shakes, bearing down.
The ground disappears, and I flail, weightlessly, before my gut flies into my throat and I fall through the air.
The ground meets my left leg with a crack.
And then . . . nothing.
Copper lines my mouth.
A haze of dust floats above me, and the shouting fades to a hum.
I slam my eyes shut.
The instant I open them, a painted-on smile is frowning down at me. Hands are grabbing my body that I can’t seem to make move in the slightest.
The upside-down frown sinks lower until worried eyes under a large brim come into focus. “Dammit, Jonesy.”
“Logan?” I choke on the blood flooding my mouth.
“Yeah, bud. Hold on a sec, we’ll have you out of here.”
He grabs my hand. The one not lying at an odd angle on the ground I can only just see in my peripheral, past the helmet cage.
“Hell of a dismount, Hads. Just keep breathing, okay...”
I hazard a swallow, mouth full of blood, but choke on the fresh onslaught of crimson.
Logan scans my body slowly. His jaw feathers when his gaze finally meets mine again.
I splutter on the blood and try to roll on my side.
Fire consumes my chest, right arm, and both legs in waves.
My vision flickers in and out and bile rushes my throat, burning it until the helmet is coated with sick.
“Ah, fuck.” Logan tugs me onto one side.
The excruciating pain steals the last of my breath, and I moan through its unrelenting assault. Darkness finds me.
