Chasing Shadows (Shadows 2)

My ball of energy was growing, gathering momentum, when suddenly we were violently jolted forward by the impact of the car crashing into us. My sphere of energy burst and scattered and I watched in horror as we smashed against the guard rail. My head was slammed into the windshield with a sickening thud and I was vaguely aware of Simon's arm in front of my chest in a futile attempt to protect me from the impact.

As suddenly as I had heard steel screeching from the collision, it was eerily quiet. My head was turned towards Simon, resting on the airbag that had deployed too late. I saw that his body was slumped over the steering wheel with blood streaming down his face, no airbag in sight. I wanted to call out to him but I felt broken and unable to make my mouth move.

I tried to move my legs but they felt trapped by something heavy. I was desperate to touch Simon, to reassure myself that he was still alive. I raised a trembling arm, barely noticing that it was covered in blood. It took every bit of strength I had left to reach out and touch his face. My hand then drifted down to find his pulse, panic overwhelming me when I couldn't find it.

From some fountain of inner strength, I found myself able to speak.

"Simon." My voice was faint and weak. "Simon, wake up. We need to get out of here."

Desperation clawed at me when he didn't respond. I expected my father to jump out of the shadows at any moment. I tried to gather my energy, but it was a barely flickering light that refused to burn brighter.

I whimpered when I started to smell smoke. I gingerly raised my head, horror gripping me when I saw that the car was on fire. This propelled me like nothing else. I sat up and attempted to pull my legs free, but they were trapped under crushed metal. I shook Simon, trying to wake him, but he remained unresponsive.

The smoke started getting thick as I frantically tried to free myself, trying to wriggle my legs free. I wanted to cry with relief when I was able to pry one leg free. I raised the free leg and rested the heel on the car seat, pushing down and using it as leverage to pull my other leg out.

I immediately turned to Simon and tried to sit him up so I could get him out of the car. Terror seized me when I saw that one of his legs was trapped under a piece of metal. I desperately tried to free him but the confines of the car made it impossible for me to get enough leverage to pull his leg out. I turned to the door on my side to open it since it would be easier for me to work his leg out from under the wreckage if I was standing outside of the car. I moaned in fear when the door refused to open. I kicked it with my foot but that only succeeded in making searing pain rush up my leg.

I quickly turned and reached over Simon to try and open his car door. I screamed in desperation when his door refused to budge as well. I glanced at the car window on my side. The window on Simon's side was still intact, but half my window had been shattered. The hole was big enough so that I could probably climb through without too many cuts. But that still left the problem of Simon being trapped. I could hope to smash his window with a rock I found outside, but was I willing to take that chance? And how could I work on freeing his leg through his window? I needed the entire car door to open so that I could wriggle his leg from the wreckage.

Even more frightening, what if my father was waiting for me to escape the car, leaving Simon to burn to death?

I gritted my teeth as I leaned down, scrabbling at Simon's leg to try and figure out how I could save both of us from this nightmare. The smoke was getting thicker and filling the inside of the car, making it painful to breathe. I could see flickers of flames escaping from under the hood of the car. But I still worked on his leg, trying to feel with my hands what exactly was immobilizing it.

Black spots started crowding my vision but I furiously kept to my task. I felt a twinge of hope when I felt a piece of metal shift. I wanted to rage when I tried pulling Simon's leg free again but it remained stuck. I was starting to lose consciousness but I knew with every fiber of my being that I would never give up. Our love was a bond that could never be broken. I would either walk away with Simon from this wreckage or I would die trying to save him.

/> My body started feeling incredibly heavy and my hands grew weak. My mind was sluggish and I felt myself slump against the dashboard, even as I was still trying to clumsily free Simon's leg. The smoke seemed to fill my every pore as I felt the heat of the flames draw closer. I vaguely wondered what it would feel like to be burned alive as my eyes fluttered closed, my hands finally stilling. The last thing I heard before slipping away was the sound of rain hitting the car.

A bond unbroken can be a curse. A watery grave can be a blessing.

Release date of the third installment of the Shadow Series is TBD. I will announce a release date as soon as I have one (I promise I'll try to get it to you as quickly as possible!).

To get news and updates (plus random ramblings), please visit my website at http://www.shkolee.com, follow me on Twitter @shkolee, or like my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/shkoleeauthor

Turn the page for the first three chapters of my adult contemporary romance book, Love Left Behind.

Emma Mills is restarting her life in New York City, determined to shed her boring persona and leave the scandal of a jilted groom behind. Little does she know that her life is about to be turned upside down by Jackson Reynard.

Chapter One

How far can obligation take you? It almost took me to the altar. Marrying the boy you started dating at fifteen is either a fairy tale or insanity. Sean Somers and I started dating our freshman year of high school. We grew up together through a parent's death, a divorce, proms and pregnancy scares. I loved Sean, although a part of me realized there was no passion in our relationship. He was like a trusted confidante, a best friend. But the love of my life? I wasn't so sure.

I assumed that college would be the wedge that would make us drift apart. I had accepted a partial scholarship to the University of Chicago and Sean was staying behind in Maryland to attend the local university. It wasn't for lack of trying that Sean didn't attend the same college as me. However, the University of Chicago had rejected him, and a small secret part of me had been happy. I could start over in Chicago and become a new person. I was tired of being boring Emma Mills; dependable daughter, straight-A student, church volunteer.

However, I had underestimated Sean's persistence and determination. Although we had promised each other that we would call and visit faithfully, Chicago was an expensive plane ride away. I didn't think it would actually happen. I hadn't realized that Sean had been squirreling away his paychecks from his summer jobs, saving enough money to be able to visit me every month.

And college hadn't been what I had expected it to be. I thought I would become a fascinating new person, with exciting friends and adventures around every corner. Instead, I realized I was still the same Emma Mills. I was still dependable. I was still earning straight-A's. I was still volunteering at church.

It became easier to go with what was comfortable. Sean was comfortable. He was dependable, just like me. So when he suggested that I move back to Maryland after graduation and take a job in D.C. so that we could start a life together, I agreed.

For three years, I was tolerably happy. Everyone envied our relationship. We both liked our jobs and enjoyed living right outside of D.C. in an up-and-coming neighborhood in Maryland. We rarely fought and I believed that I would spend the rest of my life with Sean. Therefore, when he proposed to me on my twenty-fourth birthday by stuffing a ring inside my birthday cake, I accepted with glee. My life was proceeding right on track.

But as the wedding day came closer and closer, I started to feel as if I was suffocating. We had our life totally mapped out before us. Sean was an analyst at a prestigious financial firm and was on track for a promotion to manager. I was a marketing executive at an ad agency, and we figured I would work there a few more years until we started having children. Then I would be a stay-at-home mom.

I tried to buy into the vision, but I began to realize that it wasn't the mapped out life that was really bothering me. It was the person I planned on spending that life with.

Sean didn't like to travel. He liked to stay home and watch television. Our sex life had been reduced to a chaste daily kiss with an obligatory roll in the hay once every couple of weeks. He bored me to tears, and I was sure I did the same to him. Yet every time I would question how happy he was in our relationship, he claimed that he was perfectly content.

The further we got into the wedding planning, the more my doubts grew, but it became harder and harder to think about calling it off. I had already sent the invitations out, for Pete’s sake. How tacky would it be to have to rescind a wedding invitation? So I went along and picked out our wedding cake, listened to different bands, and had long drawn-out conversations about which caterer to use.