Page 57 of Cries of Cassie

Rolling my eyes at his dramatics, I try to make him feel better. "It's only ten minutes away, then the appointment will be five minutes max. I swear. Jake, I need this appointment."

"Oh fuck. Are you pregnant or something?"

Sighing, I maneuver through the back roads, becoming increasingly aware of the migraine blurring my vision. Aura migraines are a side effect of my EDS when I pinch a nerve in my neck. They fucking suck, and the fuzzy spot in my vision rapidly grows over a few minutes until I can't see in my peripheral vision on whatever side it's on.

"I have a chiropractor appointment," I explain, but really don't want to get into it right now. "My head is killing me, and he can alleviate the pressure in my skull."

With the right side of my vision clear, I see his wide, fearful gaze directed at me. "Should you even be driving?!"

I can no longer see out the side window and half the windshield, so no. I really shouldn't be driving, but I wasn't planning on having a passenger to offer to take me. It was just supposed to be a quick trip, and I'd be on the mend.

"Just shh," I murmur, on the verge of either screaming or crying. Not sure, but I'm super fucking overwhelmed and Jake's scaring me.

He's silent for maybe thirty seconds before his phone starts vibrating. "It's Shade. I have to answer, Cass."

I wave a hand, not caring about anything except keeping the car close to the white line on the right side of the car. Just stay inside the lines.

“Shit, it’s Ripper,” he whispers to me out of the corner of his mouth. “Yeah, I'm with her." Jake literally flinches beside me at whatever Ripley says. "We're going to her chiropractor appointment. No, I don't think she will turn around."

I attempt to roll my eyes but quickly avoid it. Fucking ow. "The turn is just up there. We'll be there in like five seconds."

"CASS, WATCH OUT!"

The scraping of metal against my driver's side door draws a scream from my throat. Jerking to the right, I barely keep the car teetering on the edge of the steep ditch, but one quick glance out the side window proves too much can happen in five seconds.

Two motorcycles I couldn't see out of my periphery speed ahead of us just as the black truck slams into my side of the car again. I have no chance. All control is lost.

The deafening sounds of my car buckling against the ground and smashing glass will forever be cemented in my mind. If I survive. One final bang of my head hitting the steering wheel seals my fate. I won't make it home today.

"CASSIE! DON'T TOUCH HER!"

Sunshine fades, and darkness descends.

God, please don't let this break them.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Maddox (Shade)

"GONE?! What do you mean she's gone?" I snarl, snatching my phone from Ripley's grip. "We just saw her ten fucking minutes ago!"

Parker whispers something under his breath that sounds far too close to giving up. "All it takes is five seconds..."

"Enough!" I shout and grab the front of Ripley's shirt. "What's going on?"

The dead look in Ripley's eyes sparks and fizzles, building a fire that relieves me. He's ready to fight. "We have to go. NOW!" he declares, taking off in a fast sprint out the door and to the bikes.

Our helmets are on, and the bikes are revving faster than I can wrap my mind around the possibilities of what could have happened to my Cassie.

The crackle of Ripley's voice through the speaker in my helmet gives me something to focus on as we speed out of the compound. "I made Jake keep an eye on her if we weren't close. He got in the car with her when she left for the chiropractor."

"So she's going to see her chiropractor? Why wouldn't she tell us so we could go with her?" Koa wonders. "Was she in that much pain that she couldn't fucking wait?"

"She's not going to the chiropractor anymore," Ripley interrupts Koa's rant. "They were run off the fucking road."

NO!

"Jake told her to watch out, then she—" Ripley's audible swallow comes through quietly beneath Parker's anguished howl. "She screamed louder than the crunching of metal."