"What the-?" Jess swerved again as more fire rained down on them. It hit the hood like a gel egg and splattered, spraying flames that clung to the metal.
Abigail gasped as some hit the window, staining it red. Blood red. "Is that bloodfire?"
Choo Co La Tah nodded. "The worst part? It burns in water."
Lovely. Couldn't anyone ever invent a friendly plague? Something like raining daisies? Euphoria? Dancing flying pigs?
Nah. They always had to be nasty.
"Uh, guys?" Sasha said in a droll tone. "It's not just a plague."
Abigail understood what he meant a heartbeat later when the Bronco was literally swatted off the road so hard that it bounced over the concrete bridge wall on Interstate 15 to land them beneath it on Highway 93. Even after the jarring crash, the Bronco continued to roll fast and furiously toward the area where several tractor trailers were parked.
By the time they stopped moving, she was completely disoriented.
And upside down.
She lifted her hand to her brow and touched something wet along her eyebrow. Crap, she was bleeding. At least that explained her sudden headache. She glanced to Jess to make sure he was all right. Like her, he had a head injury on his temple, and his left hand was bleeding. Other than that, he appeared fine. Choo Co La Tah seemed to be the one with the least injuries. He held one arm over his head, bracing it against the ceiling to hold his weight so that his belt wasn't cutting in to him the way hers was.
Gravity was a definitely a bitch right now.
Sasha groaned from beside her as he struggled with his belt. "I think I'm going to barf a hairball."
Jess let out a frustrated breath as he tried to loosen himself. "You can't. You're canine."
"Tell that to the hairball in my stomach."
Jess cursed as his hand slipped while he was trying to get loose. "Bet you're glad I made you fasten that seat belt now, aren't you, Mr. I-can-flash-myself-out-if-we-get-hit?"
Sasha groaned. "Shut up, asshole." He glared at Jess. "And I would have flashed out of the car, but because we were rolling, I didn't want to get hit by it. Damn those Rytis laws."
Abigail wanted to ask what that was, but there was no time as they were hammered with more bloodfire. The smell of gas was thick. If the Bronco wasn't currently on fire, it wouldn't be long before it ignited from the rain.
"We have to get out of here." Jess kicked at the broken windshield with his booted feet.
Sasha flashed out.
Abigail tried to undo her seat belt, but she couldn't. The buckle had broken during the crash. "I hate to be all girly, but I'm trapped."
"Where's Sasha?" Jess asked.
The answer came from just outside her window. "Getting his ass kicked while deflecting this asshole from you. Any time you want to help me, Jess. Step right up."
Jess snorted at the acerbic shape-shifter as he cut his belt, then slammed down to the ceiling. "Whatever you do, keep him busy."
"No problemo. Using my face as his punching bag seems to be working. I'll just need you to help me find all my teeth later."
Abigail saw Sasha hit the ground near them. Oooh, that looked really painful. His face turned deadly before he pushed himself up and vanished out of her line of sight again.
Choo Co La Tah was strangely calm while the scent of gas grew stronger. And her breathing became more labored. It was hard to draw a breath while the nylon belt dug into her.
"Guys!" Sasha shouted. "You might want to think about getting out now. Flames are spreading all over the bottom of the truck."
She could hear the fire and feel the heat of it. I'm going to die.
And yet she had no fear. No idea why. It made no sense whatsoever. In fact, she was strangely calm, too. Like a part of her might even crave it.
Lying on his back, Jess kicked furiously at the windshield. "Damn. It. Break. Already. You. Sorry. Son. Of. A. Biscuit. Eating. Cat." He had the most colorful way of speaking as he punctuated every word with a solid kick.
Something let out a high-pitched whine. A second later, the windshield flew out onto the ground. Jess moved toward her.
She shook her head. "Get Choo Co La Tah first."
He hesitated.
"No," Choo Co La Tah snapped. "Free her. I'll be out in a second."
She saw the indecision in those lush dark eyes. "He's more important than I am."
Not to me he isn't. Jess barely bit those words back before he said them out loud. Every part of him cringed at the thought of her being hurt any worse. He couldn't stand to see her trapped and bleeding. It brought back memories he didn't understand.
Not memories of Matilda. These were something else. Faded images of a time and place he didn't understand.
But he saw her face so clearly.
Her face. Same black hair and that sassy smile that dared him as she crooked her finger for him to follow after her.
I will always come for you, Kianini. Nothing will keep me from it.
She laughed as she pulled him into her arms and stared up at him coyly from beneath her lashes. And I will never leave you, my heart. Forever yours.
Those words whispered in his ears.
"Get her free."
It took him a moment to register Choo Co La Tah's words, which had been spoken in a language he'd never heard before. Yet he completely understood them.
Blinking, he moved to comply as Choo Co La Tah crawled out through the missing windshield.
Abigail met Jess's determined gaze, and the horror in his eyes told her that the clock was ticking down for them. The sound of fire was now deafening. More than that, the pungent gas odor clung to them so thickly that she tasted it and it made it even harder to breathe.
Undaunted by the danger, Jess struggled to cut through the belt. The car thudded and popped.
Her time could be counted in heartbeats now. But it touched her that Jess was still helping her.
Moronic, but touching.
She put her hand over his to stop him from cutting the belt. "Go. There's no need in both of us dying."
He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "I'm not leaving you. If we go, we go together."
"Don't be stupid, Jess."
He scoffed as he returned to sawing on the belt. "Brains don't exactly run in my family. Suicidal lunacy, on the other hand..."
"Runs thick?"
He grinned at her. "Move back."
The metal whined a warning to them as the belt finally snapped.
Jess caught her against him and took a second to savor the feeling of her there before he kissed her temple, then pulled her from the wreckage.
They barely cleared the Bronco before it exploded into one impressive display of pyrotechnics. Fire shot up to the dark sky while pieces of the truck rained down all over them. Jess snatched Abigail under him to protect her from the shrapnel.