CHAPTER 1
Marina
The light’s fading and I curse under my breath, wrenching at the steering wheel yet again as the tires skid on the muddy track up the mountain.
“You really can’t even call this damn thing a road. It’s more like a path with dirt grudgingly thrown on it to make it slightly more steady.
The storms that have been pounding the mountain for the last few hours have completely wrecked the stupid thing though. It’s mud and sudden drop-offs all over the place and my arms ache from yanking at the wheel over and over again every time my tires slide.
“This is ridiculous,” I curse under my breath. “Rand is going to owe me big time for this one.”
I still can’t believe he managed to talk me into this. I work the corners of my mouth nervously with my teeth, chewing at my lips like I’m still that young girl that survived the most devastating thing any young girl ever has to survive.
Love.
That’s right. As far as I’m concerned there is no force on this earth worse for a woman than the love of an idiot man.
I snort under my breath, thinking about my best friend, Gina. The girl’s Italian and every time she opens her mouth you know it.
She’s already threatened to off my quarry five times since I promised to come up here and check on Jeremiah.
Sighing, I jerk at the wheel yet again. The tires skid and my heart leaps into my throat, my pulse jerking in rapid starts and stops as I fight to keep the stupid car on the road.
“Rand is going to have to buy me my favorite perfume and a steak dinner and maybe a new pair of shoes after this shit.”
The wheels slip and spin in place briefly and my head feels like it’s about to fly off my shoulders as I bite my tongue and growl.
This is a total clusterfuck.
All of this is a total disaster. The rain is still pouring down in sheets and I can’t see more than a foot in front of my face. That’s a little concerning since I don’t know this mountain or this road. My whole body goes rigid when the car jerks again. This time something feels a lot more wrong than it has the other dozen times.
Because there’s nothing there. The tire’s have nothing to grab and my belly tries to crawl up my throat as the car goes airborne.
“Oh shit!” I yell, seconds before my head slams into the steering wheel and everything goes vivid white and then disintegrates into black.
* * *
My whole body feels like it’s been shoved into a blender and then frappe’d. And rain is pouring in on my head from where the windshield cracked and water’s pouring in.
Moaning, I run my fingers up to my forehead where it feels like almost all of the pain is centered. My eyes narrow and then go fuzzy when I see the red staining my fingers.
I sit up slowly, so slowly. The car groans even louder than me and I stiffen, freezing instantly.
It’s so dark I can’t tell where I’m at and just how precarious I am right now.
Hissing, I grab my wrist and hold it to my chest when I put just a little weight on it.
“Okay, so that’s definitely not great. But it’s probably just a sprain. No big deal. I’m in one piece. The car is stable…”
Like it can hear me, the damn thing grinds and jolts and then slips again.
Screaming, I hold myself so still that I’m not sure even my breath moves. I’m holding it. Fighting the urge to lunge at the window and throw myself out of whatever mess I’m currently in.
“Help!!!” I scream, my voice breaking, tears crowding my eyes and falling down my cheeks.
I’m not sure where the hell I ended up but I have a feeling that it’s nowhere good.
I take stock of my situation and my heart races in my chest, terrified.
