Page 123 of Under His Guard

Inches and inches. The car zooms closer. My body is a live wire as I see it get ever closer to Luke, and then it’s right fucking there.

“Luke!”

Please don’t leave me.

I run up behind the car just in time to see Luke dive out of the way. The coupe doesn’t have time to slow down now.

Red brake lights flare to life as Marco tries to stop. He screams out the windows now.

This time in fear.

The tires screech against the asphalt and then a crash sounding similar to an explosion rocks the entire area.

The dilapidated car has just plowed dead center into a wall, and the crunching metal whines loudly as it comes to an abrupt halt.

I don’t care about the car, though. Not right now.

Hurrying to Luke’s side, I fall down onto my knees. He’s bleeding from the scrapes on his arms and face where he collided with the ground, and his leg is seeping steadily.

“Luke! Luke, talk to me!”

A second passes. And another.

Then, a low grumble escapes his lips, and he starts to crack his eyelids.

“Fuuuck. That sucked.”

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I squeeze him into a hug.

“Oh my God, you’re okay. I thought…” My words die off, and the sobs I’ve been holding in tear free.

“Yeah, I’m alive, doc.” Luke hisses, and I immediately pull back. “Okay, that’s subjective.”

Luke looks over at the demolished car. “Marco?”

“I’ll check. Don’t move.” I glare at Luke, daring him to do something stupid again.

He holds up a hand in surrender. “Couldn’t even if I wanted to.”

I tenuously get up and walk toward the car. The engine block is hissing and steaming.

For a minute, I worry it’s going to explode, like in the movies, but there’s no smell of gas or any visible sparks.

As I reach the driver’s side window, I look in. Marco is unconscious, lying on the airbag that saved his life.

If he is, in fact, still alive.

Creeping forward, I pry the crushed door open, which takes a lot more work than I thought, and check Marco’s pulse.

His head is covered in blood, but I get a rhythm beneath my fingers. Alive. Okay.

Ignoring my instincts to take care of the unconscious person first, I pat around on his pockets for a phone.

“Bingo.”

It’s odd to not be helping this guy immediately, but he did just try to kill me, so I’m not about to feel guilty about it.

Taking the phone back over toward Luke, I dial 911.

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