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Anthony.
I had to get him out of here.
Bracing myself as best I could, I lowered myself down with my legs in front of me and then kicked at the glass of the side window. The car rocked, but I kicked again and again.
It wouldn’t break. Fuck. What did I do? Tears filled my eyes, but I forced them down. The front windscreen wasn’t an option—although it was now cracked and broken, it was still mostly intact, and behind it lay thick smoke, with the threatening orange glow of flames beneath, close to the engine.
My gaze darted around the car, looking for anything that would help.
The glovebox. I reached up, wrenching it open and feeling around inside.
My fingers closed around something—a handle. I yanked the object out of the glove compartment, and as the bright orange object came into view, this time, I did cry—with relief.
It was an emergency hammer. My uncle had always kept one in his car, so I recognised it instantly. It had a metal tip that could be used to break glass and a seat belt cutter at the other end.
The smoke was getting thicker, obscuring my view of the outside world. Flames were beginning to lick at the windscreen as I placed the metal tip at the glass of my side window, and I knew we didn’t have long left. I swung the hammer as hard as I could, and the glass shattered but remained intact, but now I knew I’d be able to push it out. The car creaked ominously again as I desperately used my feet to shove the windscreen out of the frame, and then I was free. Cool, fresh air rushed inside, and I took a deep breath.
Anthony. I had to free him too.
Crawling over to his side and leaning across his unconscious form, avoiding the airbags, I attempted to open his door.
It opened.
Clutching the hammer in case I needed it, I crawled out of my window and then ran faster than I’d ever run, straight around to the driver’s-side door.
I wrapped one arm around Anthony’s waist and unclipped his seat belt. There was a whooshing sound as the flames roared, and at the same time, he collapsed onto me, knocking the breath from my lungs. Dropping the hammer, Ipulled, adrenaline shooting through my body, infusing me with a strength I’d never normally possess. I dragged him along the grass, and the only thought in my mind was getting him as far away from the car as possible. I kept pulling, tears blinding my vision, my arms shaking with the effort.
There was a shout from up above that sounded like my name, but it was swallowed up by the sudden loud boom that echoed around us. A huge fireball erupted from the car, and even though I’d managed to get us a safe distance away, I felt the burning heat scorch my skin. Releasing Anthony, I collapsed back into the grass, the adrenaline leaving me in a rush, my body boneless and completely spent.
“Elena!”
My vision was swimming, but it looked like Knox was there. But that couldn’t be right, could it?
“Elena! You’re bleeding! Fuck, baby. Stay with me. Don’t youdarefucking leave me.”
I was bleeding?
I became aware of what seemed to be a long, throbbing pain radiating from my side. I placed my hand on it, and it came away wet with blood.
Oh.Fuck.
There was something wrong with my vision—it was getting hazier, and all I could see were tiny pinpricks of light.
And then I couldn’t see anything at all.
42
KNOX
My entire fucking world had been turned upside down. It was like I was on a spinning wheel, rotating between shock, anger, hurt, and fear. The beep of the monitors should have soothed me, but they didn’t.
My mum was reclined on one of the chairs in my dad’s private room, JoJo curled up in her lap, both of them asleep. I should be trying to nap too, but I couldn’t because every time I closed my eyes, I saw Elena pulling my dad from his burning vehicle, and I was too far away to help.
I’d come so close to losing two of the most important people in my life today. Even now they were both stable, I couldn’t help the fear—that something might go wrong, that they might not make it. It was irrational—my dad had broken his ankle, and Elena had sustained blood loss from the cut on her side that the doctors thought had been caused by a large shard of glass. That had meant that she’d needed a minor transfusion. They both had various other cuts and bruises, but between them, there was nothing life-threatening. Regardless, neither of them were awake, and until I saw them open their eyes, I’d be fucking worrying.
I shifted in my seat, something digging into my leg, and I glanced down.
Elena’s notebook.
