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I grabbed him and hugged him tight. “I can’t wait.”

There was nothing else left of mine in the apartment, and I was enjoying the idea of a clean break between my old life and the new. But weirdly, as Sasha followed me in the coupe back toward his place, I had a feeling and kept looking back at him in the rearview mirror to make sure he was with me.

That wasn’t like me. I didn’t have any supernatural powers, and clearly, since I hadn’t picked up on the fact that Royce Kimball was a bigger problem than I thought or that Theo Rossellini was poised to shoot me the last time I was in his home, I was not one who noticed things. Which, if I thought about it, was a terrible way for a supposed superhero to be. Regardless, I had this niggling concern, like a warning light flickering in the back of my brain. I rationalized as I checked the rearview mirror for the tenth time since we’d left, that probably because Sasha was finally mine, even being in a separate car was problematic for me. He should have been sitting beside me where I could hold his hand, but we needed to move both cars as we had no plans to return.

Maybe, I told myself, as my breathing got shaky, and my heart rate quickened, starting to hammer in my ears, the concern over losing him to something horrible but mundane, like a traffic accident, was scaring me.

“The fuck?” I muttered, realizing my brain was spinning, filled with what-ifs when nothing at all seemed like an issue. We were driving, that was all.

And yet… it was like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Worst of all, his stupid number wasn’t even in my stupid phone because we’d been together and neither of us had thought of it so I couldn’t call. It was maddening, and I was probably losing my mind for no good reason, except… something felt off.

Before we got on the expressway, I needed him to pull over so I could get his number. I wanted us to talk on the phone the whole way as I’d obviously turned into a lovesick schoolboy who needed to hear the voice of his beloved. He’d laugh himself silly.

I signaled for him to go to the right and not take the on-ramp, but suddenly he flew by me with three cars on his tail. I was surprised my yell didn’t blow out all the windows in the SUV.

How had I known? Some weird mate bond no one had ever bothered telling me about? It was insane, and I was trying not to hyperventilate as I raced to catch up to him and the three cars.

It was midday on a Saturday, so there was still some traffic, but not as much as normal, which was fortunate, as we were all going over a hundred, crisscrossing behind and in front of other cars and driving on the shoulder on both sides.

I was a fairly good driver; not gifted like my friend Kaz, who drove Formula One for a living, but he’d taught me a few things, which helped. Even at the speed I was going, braking for a moment would not decrease your speed enough to make a huge difference, and when I caught the third car, got in front of him and basically stopped, he had no option but to go around me, off the shoulder, and hit the barrier on the left. The impact crumpled the front of his car, and I had sped up in time for the driver behind him to not hit me.

I was wildly impressed with my mate. Driving was not something normally on any omega’s résumé, but the way he maneuvered in and out of lanes, cutting fast, not hitting any other cars, was amazing. When the passengers in each of the remaining two cars leaned out the windows and fired at him, the fact that he sped up, easily topping a hundred and twenty, and didn’t lose control, was beyond what I would have thought possible. Again, omega. They were not getaway drivers; it simply wasn’t done. But I was thrilled that Sasha had never received that memo as he flew down the highway. Unfortunately, the shots did hit other people, and one car crashed into another, and another, with the last one flipping over. The good news was that everyone was getting out as I sped by, which meant no one was dead.

One of the guys in pursuit took a turn too fast as Sasha darted between two semis, and hit the barrier. The car ended up on its side, not upside down, next to the wall. I saw him getting out too, and moments later, Sasha took a last-minute right, losing the remaining pursuer, as they had no choice but to go straight. I followed him onto the exit, and I didn’t understand why he wasn’t slowing down until another car got between us and strafed the coupe with bullets.

I hadn’t even seen the fourth car, but he had, which was why he was speeding away, heading for a part of downtown that was more industrial. I had the gas pedal to the floor, trying in vain to catch him, but Sasha was forced down the off-ramp and drove straight through the intersection—thankfully it was nearly empty—then across the street and into the side of what looked like steel girders. There was nowhere else to go, and the car hit headfirst, folding in half, skewered on the metal.

Slamming on my brakes, I stared across the street as the car with the men who had shot at him rolled up close, threw something into the car, shot at it again, then sped off right before it exploded. People were honking and yelling, and I pulled off to the right.

There was a loud cry, and it took me a second to realize the wounded animal noise had come from me. It was stupid that I didn’t realize. I was alone, after all. But I’d never made such a sound before, even when I was abandoned at fifteen.

I sat there, panting, in shock, not even sure what to do. My stomach lurched, I was gripping the wheel so hard I was surprised it didn’t break in half, but more important than that was the shaking. I couldn’t stop. That fast, I’d lost him. The first time I’d meet his mother would be at his funeral.

His mother… She would never get the chance to change her mind about me because everything was over.

I was so cold and thought I might vomit, so I unclipped my seat belt in case I needed to get out. I knew I should call someone, but I had no idea who that would be. For the first time in my life, I had absolutely no idea what to do.

My eyes felt like they were burning with the tears that filled them.

The tap on the passenger side window was so startling that I yelled.

Sasha was standing there, looking at me. All I could do was stare, mouth open, as I unlocked the door.

“Holy shit, that was crazy,” he muttered as he climbed into the passenger seat and put on his seat belt. “And I’m so sorry about your car. love. I’ll replace it and⁠—”

“What the fuck was that?” I roared at him, pointing over at the charred wreckage of my car, which was burning really well.

“I jumped out,” he said simply.

I could hear myself breathing. Or trying to.

“Love?”

“You jumped out.” I repeated his absurd words.

“Yes.”

I needed to get air moving through my lungs and had to put my head down on the steering wheel. “I didn’t fuckin’ see you jump out,” I rasped.