Total pages in book: 248
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 236036 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1180(@200wpm)___ 944(@250wpm)___ 787(@300wpm)
Wait.
Dead animals didn’t move, right?
Oh thank you! The relief to learn I wasn’t a murderer was immense and immediately followed by the knowledge that the poor creature could still be injured. “Hold on, I’m coming!” I yelled, only wincing a little at the bite of pain of speaking. My jaw ached but at least my teeth hadn’t tumbled out like Tic Tacs. I yanked the door handle and shoved hard. Or at least tried to but it refused to open more than a fraction of an inch.
Plan B.
Passenger-side window!
I was halfway across the center console when I felt something tugging me back. My heart leapt into my throat as I whimpered. Not being dead didn’t mean an injured beast couldn’t easily reach through the open window to—
Slamming my eyes closed, I braced one hand on the passenger seat and reached behind me to bat away the creature. It took me a moment to understand that what my fingers grabbed wasn’t matted fur or bloodied hair, it was smooth and flat and… taking a chance, I twisted my head to look over my shoulder and opened one eye. Okay, I really, really, really needed to calm down. It was only the seatbelt I’d forgotten to unbuckle. Scooching back a bit, I pushed the button to free myself and was doing a combination of wiggling and kicking to free myself of the strap when a sound had me looking back again. The leaves of the bush blocking the door were not only rustling, but were parting to reveal…
Funny how even if a person couldn’t speak clearly when their jaw ached, they could sure scream.
Chapter Seven
Lincoln
I probably lost a good ten years off my life when the scream ripped through the air. I’d only made it halfway through the uprooted bush that was preventing me from seeing fully into the car. As strains of it reverberated around me, I widened the path I’d created until I could bend down and stick my head into the vehicle’s interior. Even as synapses fired to make sense of what I was seeing, my head rocked back as a solid right hook hit my jaw.
“Hey!”
“No!”
Both yells came at the same time but I had to give the trophy to whoever else was yelling as that volume was usually only attainable by opera singers and people who were literally scared out of their minds.
“I’m not here to hurt you.” My assurance was only met with wild kicking and more screams that sounded suspiciously like promises she didn’t “taste good” and pleas of “don’t eat me” which made about as much sense as, hell, as the flip-flop that I barely managed to dodge when it came sailing through the window. I kept up a low-muttered litany of reassurance as I cautiously surveyed the situation. When I realized only one leg was kicking like a bronco determined to unseat its rider, I saw the problem. Her other foot was tangled up in the seat belt. Touching her ankle only resulted in another scream I was rather shocked didn’t shatter every window of her car.
Time to regroup.
I wasn’t a man to retreat from a problem but was smart enough to realize approaching from the flank wasn’t going to work. Once out of the bush, I walked up the side of the ditch and rounded the rear of her car. A quick look had me thankful that there wasn’t more foliage waiting to hamper any rescue and also had me abruptly stopping mid step. If you’d asked what I’d thought I’d see, I honestly couldn’t have told you. But when they realized that I’d moved, their head lifted and another scream rent the air. I’d braced for that possibility, but I sure as hell wasn’t prepared to see it being issued by someone with the wildest mane of curly red hair and the hugest emerald eyes I’d ever seen. And never in a million years would I have expected to recognize the cutest damn pixie I’d ever laid my eyes on hanging half-way out the passenger-side window.
Her scream cut off mid-note as our eyes met and time slipped.
I had no clue how long we stared at each other, but when she smiled, my heart flipped in my chest, and when she said, “Hi, Linc,” my entire world tilted off its axis.
“Hi, Livvy. You always did know how to make an entrance, didn’t you?”
The sight of her button nose crinkling and the sound of her giggle had my lips curling. But when I saw the blood, all levity flew out the window and snapped me back into action.
“Fuck, you’re hurt!” My mind went into overdrive to remember the first aid I’d begun learning as a Cub Scout. Though I was pretty sure I was going to need more than gauze and some tape to fix whatever booboo this was. I had no doubt I’d receive a failing mark as a volunteer fireman too, as I’d not even begun to administer the first steps learned in the advanced courses. Not only had I not managed to get her in a prone position, she’d been jerking around like a crazed marionette while I’d stood there chuckling and rubbing my damn jaw. In my mind’s eye, I could see Captain Willams’ scowl of disapproval, but it wasn’t like I’d been the cause of the crash. I was simply trying to handle the aftermath.