Mad Love (Slateview High 3)

An engine revved and tires squealed as a car sped toward us from the intersecting side street, and before I could open my mouth to scream or shout a warning, it plowed into Bishop’s convertible.

Nineteen

The force of the impact felt like being at the epicenter of a bomb. There was a moment of blinding, rushing panic, a noise so loud it seemed to reverberate inside my fucking soul, and then blackness.

Quiet.

Nothingness.

I floated in that hazy space for seconds that felt like hours, and when the world turned back on, all I could hear was the roar of blood in my ears and a sharp ringing sound. My body ached, and something wet trickled down the side of my face. When I reached a hand up to touch it, my fingertips shook so badly it felt like I was having a seizure.

“Bish…” My voice was a low groan. “Kace. Misael?”

Gingerly, I turned my head to look over at them, but as I did, the back window exploded inward. I screamed, ducking on instinct.

“Fuck!”

Bishop’s voice was thick with pain and urgent with fear, and he ducked too, reaching across me to pull something from the glove box, then unclipping his seatbelt and mine and shoving my door open.

He pushed me, making me spill out of the car as several loud pops sounded outside and the driver’s side window shattered. I hit the pavement in a heap, my bruised body barely able to control my fall as my skirts tangled around my legs.

“Misael? Kace?” Bish called over his shoulder, throwing himself over the console and spilling out of the car after me, pulling me up into a crouch next to the front wheel.

The back passenger door opened, and Kace and Misael threw themselves out. Kace had an arm around Misael’s waist, and something dark and shiny ran freely down the dark-haired boy’s arm.

Blood.

Oh, fuck.

“We gotta fuckin’ go,” Kace said quickly, meeting Bishop’s gaze.

As if to punctuate his words, several more gunshots rang out in the dark night, and Bishop leaned around the hood of the car to return fire. That’s what he’d grabbed from the glove box, I realized. A gun.

As Bishop shot at our attackers, Kace hauled Misael up to a low crouch. “You gotta help him run, Princess. Get rid of your heels.”

I nodded, scrambling to kick off my shoes and loop my arm around Misael’s waist. Kace pulled a gun from the back of his waistband and braced his arms over the car’s trunk, firing off several rounds.

“Go! Go!” Bishop shouted, his weapon still braced in his hands.

I didn’t question. I didn’t hesitate. I just reacted.

Hauling Misael up, I sprinted away from the car. Thank fuck, the boy beside me hadn’t been hit badly enough that he couldn’t hold himself upright, and he moved almost as fast as I did, holding out his good hand to point to a large building a little way down the street.

“There!” he yelled.

I moved toward it, and Kace and Bishop ran after us, still shooting at the people who had hit us, holding them off. Shouts and gunfire rang out in the night, loud, angry male voices calling to each other as they pursued us.

A bullet whizzed by my head as we neared the building, and I screamed, ducking as Misael and I both stumbled sideways. Dirt and pebbles dug into my feet as we put on a final burst of speed, slamming into the door hard. I grabbed the handle and yanked, but it wouldn’t give.

“Locked!” I shouted, my voice a wild shriek as I pulled harder.

“Move!”

I did as Kace commanded, releasing the handle and stepping sideways, and a second later, a new pop sounded. The locking mechanism blew out as Kace shot at it, and he yanked the door open. “In, in, in!”

My body felt numb with fear as I darted toward the door, my arm still wrapped around Misael. As soon as we were inside, he stepped away from me, not letting me carry any more of his weight.

“I’m okay,” he gritted out.