Pieces of Summer

I nod, and Hunter curses as the both of them take off running, racing away like something is seriously wrong.

“The fuck is going on?” I roar.

“I’ll get her!” Hunter yells to Aidan.

“She’s probably breaking shit. Watch your head,” Aidan yells back.

“Don’t worry about me,” Hunter calls back without even turning around.

“What the hell is wrong?” I snap.

Aidan points at me right as I reach his car, and he growls his next words. “You’re what’s fucking wrong. You gave her conflicting times, and you have no fucking clue how bad that is. Especially because it’s you. She’s too invested, which makes her unnaturally irrational even for a normal person. It’s dangerous for her now.”

This sounds so fucking crazy, but he ducks into his car as Hunter speeds out of the parking lot in his.

Blake stands beside me as Aidan squeals out, driving like a madman.

“What in the crazy hell just happened?” he asks.

“I have no clue,” I say in complete shock.

Turning around, I stalk to my truck and sling open the door. Blake climbs in on the passenger side, and I drive faster than necessary to Mika’s house. As soon as we pull up, my heart slaps my stomach.

Hunter is running out, but what has me failing to move is the fact Mika is a bloody mess in his arms. Aidan is rushing out to open the back door of Hunter’s car, and I watch like I’ve been taken out of my body and forced to see her through a screen.

“Fucking hell,” Blake gasps, leaping out of the truck.

I can’t move. Nothing is working.

I watch helplessly as Hunter slides into the backseat, clutching Mika to him as her eyes stay shut. Her entire body is limp, and her mouth is hanging open. All of her color is gone, except for the color of blood staining her all over.

Blake is yelling something, and they’re yelling back, but it all sounds like distant echoes. Then suddenly Blake is in front of me, shoving me over in the truck as he takes the wheel. I shift into the passenger seat as my heart thuds against my throat.

“What happened?” I ask hoarsely.

He doesn’t answer at first as he wheels out in reverse and slings us around, driving behind the fast car with flashers on in front of us.

“I don’t know,” he finally says.

Chapter 39

CHASE

By the time we reach the hospital, we’ve long lost sight of the speedster car Aidan drove. My shock has faded, and a full-blown panic has me bursting out of the passenger door and rushing into the ER before Blake even gets the truck fully stopped.

I stagger to a halt, searching over the heads, seeking a familiar face, and finally spot Hunter. Blood is staining the white shirt he has on, and his knee is bouncing up and down as he stares vacantly at the floor.

When I reach him, he loo

ks up, then he cuts his eyes away. My heart sinks to my stomach, and I try to go through the doors, only to realize they’re locked.

“Sir, you can’t go back there,” a woman says calmly from behind a glass window. “Not unless you’re family. Who are you here to see?”

“I’m her boyfriend. Mikayla Dalton. She just went back,” I say through strain, feeling my hands shaking.

The woman frowns, but she walks away. When she comes back, she shakes her head.

“Sorry, her brother is back with her right now. Only one person is allowed back there at a time. Have a seat out here, and I’ll let him know you want to be kept updated.”