“It’s okay, sunshine.” Dimitri reached out and squeezed my thigh as we eased through the four-way section of the road.
An engine roared, and the snow crunching behind us grew louder. I stopped breathing as another set of high beams from my right didn’t slow down.
“Dimitri!” I screamed.
His arm shot up and became a bar to hold me in my seat as the car behind slammed into us.
Emma’s screams pierced my ears. The car behind slammed into us, and my vehicle lunged and knocked us forward as I held on to Emma. Another car crashed into the passenger side. Emma’s shrieks were muffled by the bending metal, smashing glass, and me roaring her name. We tumbled around in our death box, and something wet blinded me as we rolled. Pain shot through my body, and at one point, I blacked out from it. When I opened my eyes, everything was blurry and still.
“With You” by Linkin Park played over the speakers, jarring me as I tried to get my wits together. I slowly blinked as I shook off the dizziness. The same wetness dripped into my eye, and I shakily swiped it away. I looked at my fingers, finding blood on them.
“Where is she?”my demon roared in my head. Pain splintered behind my eyes and throughout my skull from his screaming.
Emma.
I turned my head, expecting to see her in her seat, but the passenger side of my destroyed car was dented in, taking up the space where she should have been.
“Emma,” I murmured and looked to my other side.
More blood dripped into my eye, and I swiped it away before I removed my seatbelt. When it didn’t budge, I used my demonic strength and ripped it off.
“Emma!” I yelled as I released myself from the wreckage. Crawling through the snow, I raised my head and panted through the pain. I searched through the blinding snow for my mate but couldn’t make out her figure.
Standing up, I pushed my hair from my face and rubbed the blood out of my eyes with the back of my hand. I blinked a few times and squinted as I scoured through the endless white for Emma.
“Someone call 911!” a woman yelled.
I turned in place, ignoring the human as I looked for my mate. Putting one foot in front of the other, I followed my instincts. The wind whistled in my ears, and snow darted into my eyes, blinding me. Walking ahead, I spotted a flash of black and red. My heart jackhammered in my chest, and I stumbled a step before I lunged forward and dropped to my knees.
“Emma!” I yelled as I reached out to her still form.
“Don’t move her,” the same woman from earlier ordered.
I gently turned my mate over and sucked in a breath. Blood covered her face, with cuts so deep I could see bones. One of Emma’s shoulders was in an abnormal position—most likely pulled out of its socket.
“Emma,” I whispered.
Our mating bond made her hard to kill. So why the fuck wasn’t she healing?
“Emma,” I said through gritted teeth, and brushed my fingers down her cheek, ensuring I didn’t touch any of the wounds.
Sirens sounded in the distance, filling in the silence.
“Sir, you shouldn’t touch her!”
A hand slapped at mine, knocking it away from Emma. I snapped my gaze up and bared my teeth at the human woman. I hadn’t noticed her nearby because I was too engrossed in Emma. The woman was older, maybe in her sixties. Gray bangs peeked from the bottom of the black beanie resting over her forehead. Desperation and panic filled the woman’s ice-blue eyes.
“Kill the fucking bitch and get our mate to a healer,”my demon roared in my head.
I scowled at the human. “Step away,” I growled.
“What are you going to do, huh? If you move her, you’ll worsen her condition and possibly kill her. You want to do that?” She pointed to Emma’s still body. “Check if she’s breathing.”
I ground my teeth together and dropped my gaze to Emma. I pressed my fingers against her neck and barely felt the weak thrum of her pulse.
When the sirens came closer, Emma’s heart stopped beating. My heart joined hers, and I automatically pressed the heels of my palms into her chest. I did compressions and counted in my mind before I stopped, leaned her head back, jaw open, and slanted my mouth over hers. As I breathed into her mouth, I listened as her still lungs filled with air. I took a deep breath and pushed more air into her before I began compressions again.
“She’s not breathing,” the woman yelled to someone running through the snow from a building on the corner.
