I spent the rest of the afternoon sulking—for lack of a better word.

We were back in the car, my Poli Sci textbook was floating somewhere in a lake behind us, and I was still drowning in an emotional limbo the size of the state of Texas.

We were driving through a long, flat expanse of nothingness. We were alone. No other cars or trucks had passed us for some time, and if I had it in me to pretend, then maybe Chaser and I would be the only two people left on the planet. I wished the world had ended and everyone else was gone. I could do it. Survive in a world like that. The brutality of it was more romantic than the life waiting for me back at Fortitude.

Alone in a long, flat expanse of nothingness. It was an epic metaphor for my current state of mind. Our pit stop back at the lake had been magical…until I’d given Chaser an ultimatum like a fucking idiot.

Push too hard and you could lose everything. Words of wisdom right there.

“I wish you’d tell me what is going on,” I said, studying the horizon. “It would make me feel a lot better.”

“You keep asking, and I keep saying nothing,” Chaser drawled.

“Don’t remind me. I feel like I’m on a fucking merry-go-round I’m not allowed to get off.”

“Full disclosure?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Full disclosure.”

“We’re being followed.”

“Huh?” I twisted around in the seat and looked out the back window. Sure enough, a black car was trailing us. It was a fair way behind, so I couldn’t see who was behind the wheel or how many people were inside. “How do you know?”

“I’ve been watching them for the past hour.”

“An hour? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Chaser grunted. “Because you don’t need to know the details. You just need to sit there.”

“If that’s what you think I’m going to do, you haven’t learned a single thing about me,” I muttered to myself.

Glancing over my shoulder, I shuddered. They were here for me. It didn’t make me feel any better that Chaser was here with his macho alpha bravado. He’d already killed four men to save my life, but this time was different. We were on an open road in the middle of a dust bowl.

So much for taking the back roads to shake them and the cops off our tail. We were gonna die out here.

“So what do we do?” I asked, scowling. “Outrun them? Turn and fight?”

“We’re on a secluded highway, and the closest town is miles away. We can’t outrun them in this car,” he replied. “And this isn’t the Wild West.”

“Technically it is, you know.” I pouted.

“Sloane.”

“So we’re screwed?” I turned, watching the dark-colored car loom behind us.

“Slightly.”

“That’s just great. Who are these guys?”

“Not the time to ask, Sloane.”

I felt the car slow, and my heart jackhammered in my chest.

“What are you doing?” I demanded.

“They’re gaining,” he replied. “They’re making their move.”

“Shit.” I turned and recoiled as I saw the black car closing the gap fast. “Chaser, I don’t like this…”

“Stay calm, and do what I say,” he commanded. “They’re coming up fast.”

Right now, I didn’t mind his alpha asshole mode. If it got us out of this alive, then he could turn the dial right up to a million if he wanted.

“Hold on,” Chaser exclaimed.

The car lurched forward as we were rammed from behind. My head snapped forward, and I jammed my palms on the dash to steady myself.

“Tighten your seat belt, and cross your arms over your chest,” Chaser commanded. “If we roll, it’ll protect you.”

I swallowed hard and did as he said, my hands shaking.

“Chaser…” I said warily.

“It’ll be okay,” he murmured, glancing in the mirror. “It’ll be okay.”

I sucked in a sharp breath and held on for dear life, putting all my trust in Chaser. The man I wanted. I’d used the word love a few times in the confines of my own thoughts but never out loud. Did I want to say it? Did I want him to know it? Was love what I really felt for him?

It was so not the time for an existential crisis.

Movement caught my gaze, and I looked past Chaser, right into the eyes of a man in the other car. They’d flanked us, and now they were right there, and the man in the passenger seat was aiming a gun at us out the open window.

“Down!” Chaser roared.

I slid down in the seat, screaming as the driver’s side window shattered. We swerved to the side as the black car sideswiped us, scraping metal jarring my ears. Chaser wrenched the wheel, trying to break away, then he jammed his foot on the brake before accelerating hard.

I flew forward, the glowing red taillights of the black car filling my vision as I was flung backward. Squealing tires signaled the other car had braked, and before Chaser could correct our forward motion, they clipped us.

The nose of the car went up in the air, and we were spinning. I screamed, unable to hold onto my terror.

We landed on the roof, and the windscreen cracked and shattered as we continued to roll. I tightened my grip around my body and tried to ride it out, but I felt stinging pain erupt all over my body.

Then...

Groaning, I lifted my head off the ground, my vision blurring as the world came back into focus. Overhead, the sky was streaked with fire and blood. The sun was setting.

How did I get here?

In the distance, I could see the car lying beside the highway. It was a hunk of twisted and broken metal, and a way behind it was the black car that’d rammed us.

I must’ve lost consciousness when the car flipped because I didn’t remember being flung out the window at all.

Smoke was rising from the twisted wreck, and the engine was hissing and clicking in the silence. Where was Chaser? He couldn’t be dead. I wouldn’t let him die.

My head throbbed, and I rolled over with a groan. Red dirt stuck to my arms and coated my T-shirt. Spitting, I cleared the grit from my mouth. Nothing felt broken, but that didn’t mean much. I could be bleeding internally and I wouldn’t know because the adrenaline and shock would mask the symptoms. At least I’d learned something from binge watching all those doctor dramas on television.

“It’s time to give her up, Gunnar.”

I paused as a gravelly voice echoed across the distance. Raising my head as my faculties returned, I realized I’d been flung a fair distance from the car. About seventy feet, but I couldn’t be sure. It was far enough they hadn’t found me yet, and I was good with that. I still had a chance.

I couldn’t see anyone on the road or in the brush either, which meant they must have been standing on the other side of the wreck.

The gun. I knew Chaser had put it in the glove compartment after we’d first slept together. He’d trusted me then, knowing I was tied to him. Did he, though? Did he realize how deep my feelings ran?

Shaking my head, I pushed to my knees and crawled toward the car. He either gave a crap or he was using me for sex. Either way, knowing his true intentions wouldn’t help me now. I was screwed if I didn’t do something.

Chaser was either dead or eyeballs deep in shit. No Chaser meant they would come looking for me, and I didn’t fancy a nighttime hunt across the wilds of Texas.

Crawling toward the car, my gaze darted around, looking for signs of the mystery men. Nothing stirred, so I kept going.

My head throbbed with a headache to end all headaches. Asphalt dug into my palms. I’d made it to the road unseen. Through the broken window of the car that had taken us three-quarters of the way across the country, I spied the glove compartment. It was within reach. All I had to do was…

Two men were on the other side of the wreck, and I hesitated.

Chaser was on his knees, his head lowered. An unknown man was standing over him, and the gun in his hand was pointed at Chaser’s temple.

My heart twisted, and I forgot all about my headache.

Reaching into the car, I popped open the glove compartment, wincing as the sound echoed. There was a rattle as whatever was inside scraped across plastic.

“I won’t ask again,” the man said. “Where’s the girl?”

“Woman,” Chaser replied, his voice rasping. “She’s a woman.”

“A debt has to be paid, Gunnar. If you deny us now, I wonder how long it will take for Fortitude to find out what’s really going on here. How long will it be before you die?”

“Not long at all,” Chaser declared. “You’ll have to shoot me before you take me alive, and you’ll especially have to shoot me before you lay a single finger on her.”

Holding my breath, I picked up the gun and pulled my hand back through the broken window. Who the fuck was Gunnar?

Checking the magazine, I counted my lucky stars it was full and edged away from the wreck.

How was I going to do this? The man’s finger was on the trigger, which meant if I shot at him, he could pull it and kill Chaser. Even if I hit the guy, he could still fire. I saw no other choice.

I had to kill him before…but how? Chaser was on his knees, which meant I had to go for the headshot or at least the torso. If the man didn’t drop on the first shot, I had to be prepared to fire again. No hesitation.

God, help me, I thought to myself.

Rising from behind the car, I aimed at the man and fired. A boom echoed across the desert, and I stumbled back a step as I failed to absorb the kickback through my arm and shoulder.

The man stumbled and clutched his shoulder, turning toward me with a grunt.

“Surprise, asshole,” I declared.

I recovered, adrenaline searing through my veins and stabbing me in the heart. I fired again, and this time, the bullet found its mark.

The man’s head splattered like a soft watermelon as the bullet tore through him, and I almost gagged as he fell back onto the asphalt. Blood pooled beneath him, the puddle spreading thick and fast underneath his limp body. Thick like cranberry sauce.

Chaser was right when he said to close your eyes and mouth. I was only now understanding he was always right about matters of life and murder.

“Sloane.”

I jumped as I felt Chaser’s hand curl around mine. He untangled my trembling hand from the gun and clicked the safety on, then he turned me away from the road and the spreading death.

“We have to be careful,” I muttered. “There could be more of them.”

“There were two,” he replied. “I got the other one.”

I stared at him, shock setting in.

“Are you okay?” His eyes sparkled in the twilight, and I was almost fooled by the panic I saw in them.

“I was thrown from the car…” I glanced over his shoulder at the desert beyond.

Chaser’s hands poked and prodded at me, massaging my arms and ribs, searching for broken bones. When he pressed his palms against my stomach, I shoved him away.

“Don’t.”

“Sloane, I need to check for broken bones.”

“I just killed a man…” I trembled.

“I know.”

I felt his gaze on me, but I couldn’t meet it. Killing was second nature to him—he pulled the trigger and had zero regrets after—but for me?

“I…”

Chaser stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me, embracing my body against his. He’d never comforted me. Never.

“You saved my life,” he whispered into my hair. “No one’s ever done that before. No one at all.”