“You know he can’t hear you, right?” A breathy laugh slips out of me.
“Doesn’t matter,” Vince shrugs easily. “He gets it.”
In the mirror, I see Reed’s car move again, a little faster this time, a little less controlled.
“He’s getting pissed,” Vince adds, almost pleased.
Reed pulls out suddenly, trying to pass, but Vince matches him instantly. The cars stay side by side, moving too fast and too close for something that started as nothing.
I shake my head under my breath, watching it play out like it’s just another stupid game.
Vince glances at me briefly, that same look still sitting in his eyes. “I’m gonna scare him a little,” he says.
I don’t answer, still smiling as he swerves the wheel to the side, not enough to hit but enough to make it look like he might, and Reed overreacts immediately, handling it like he’s never been behind a wheel before.
His car swerves hard, the tires screeching against the road as he overcorrects, then loses it completely. The back of the car swings out, the front jerks the opposite way, and it almost looks like he might regain control. He doesn’t.
The car shoots off the road and slams into a tree. The sound is heavy, wrong, louder than anything that’s happened so far, and everything goes still after.
Vince brakes hard, the car shuddering beneath us before everything goes quiet. Then I notice it: smoke starting to curl up from the front of Reed’s car, thin at first, barely visible against the dark, and my stomach tightens without warning.
“Vince…” I say, my voice sounding off even to me. “He…”
“Shit,” Vince mutters as he pushes the door open, and a second later we’re both stepping out of the car. By then, the smoke is already getting thicker, flames beginning to catch beneath the hood.
“Wait—no,” I say quickly, turning toward him, something sharp rising in my chest. “We have to help him. Call someone, call…”
“I’ve got it,” he bites out, but he’s not doing anything that looks like help.
“Vince, call the fire brigade,” I urge, already reaching for my phone. “We can still…”
His hand closes around my wrist—hard.
“Stop,” Something changes in the way he says it this time.
“What are you doing?” I try to pull back, my chest tightening harder with every second. “We can’t just leave him!” He drags me toward him, forcing me back into the car before I can do anything else.
“Vince, let me go, we have to help him!”
“Shut up, Sierra!” he cuts in, sharper this time as he forces me back into the seat before climbing in after me and slamming the door. “Just sit still for a minute.”
The fire grows, and I can see it clearly now as it spreads along the front, catching faster than it should.
“He’s in there,” I say, my voice slipping as I look back at it. “Vince, we can still help him, just call…”
“We’re not calling anyone!” he snaps, starting the engine again.
The words don’t make sense, and I turn to him. “What?”
“We’re leaving.”
“No.” I shake my head immediately, adrenaline hitting properly now. “No, we can’t… Are you insane?! Vince, he’s going to…”
“We’re leaving,” he repeats, louder this time, like that makes it final.
A sick feeling curls through me while my hands start shaking uncontrollably.
“If we stay, we’re fucked,” he adds, glancing at me briefly. “You understand that, right?”
