Page 54 of Kat Bethel

That anger finally got a foothold. This was his fault.

“Those trembling thighs.” He groaned.

Abiel’s hands grew too tight again and his soft growl rattled louder than before.

“You know, seizures lock the muscles. Of course, they’re trembling.” This guy was not rolling with what I was feeding him. “Can we please go?”

“I bet I can make you scream like that.” He reached out for me.

“Don’t touch me!” I yelled and blindly reached for the door handle, ready to walk if I had to. Only to find that the door was locked, no matter how I flipped the lever. I was stuck. “Disgusting bastard.”

He’d been planning something since he picked me up. I was going to hurt him.

His hand was so close it obscured my entire field of vision. “We’re really going to do this?”

Final warning.

He didn’t slow down at all. Completely unfazed by the threats of a woman that he’d already declared his prey.

Fine.

Hard way it is.

His fingers stopped just short of my face, close enough to feel the heat from his hand and too close for comfort. Before I could slap him away and stomp him back into his place, his fingers trembled. “What the fuck?”

His eyes grew wide as he stared at his hand with confusion as if it was disconnected from himself. The silence grew too loud to be comfortable.

I found myself taking a deep breath as if to brace myself, but I wasn’t sure from what.

The sickening snap of bone filled the air as his wrist twisted in a direction that wasn’t natural and felt wrong to look at. The skin on his wrist turned black in a clear handprint that I realized prevented him from touching me. His eyes went to his wrist as he screamed in agony.

The terror and confusion on his face made a potent blend of satisfaction and guilt shrink my stomach.

“Don’t touch my Dandelion.” The roar in the cab made my ears pop painfully, and the glass of the windshield shattered and rained on us.

Dark energy filled the cab, making me shake for an entirely different reason. Dread and unease crawled down my spine. Maybe that was Abiel’s real power, making me tremble before him.

The door fell away from my side of the truck, transforming from a little beat up and in need of a paint job to being destroyed by rust.

We were sinking lower, and I suspected it was because the truck was being demolished. I tugged on the seat belt and found I was trapped. The buckle rusted beyond function.

Panic hit me like a freight train. My heart pounded against my breastbone like it wanted to jump out.

Stay calm. Panic later.

The driver’s pupils blew wide and red streaks filled the sclera.

“Don’t do it!” I shrieked.

He opened his door wide open without minding traffic. A car hit the rusted piece of metal, careening it into circles when the driver overcorrected.

The tow truck driver jumped down into traffic as the squeal of brakes and the smell of burned rubber filled the air. The distinctsound of metal clashing against metal filled the air. A duet with the honking horns announcing the calamity.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my seatbelt cutter, escaping my restraint. I climbed into the driver’s seat.

A second car ran over his body, despite their best attempt to stop, sending a splash of hot blood spattering over my face.

Worse was how every car in that part of the highway was disintegrating before my eyes. Passengers and drivers slumped as if they’d simply gone to sleep, but I knew better. So when the next round of cars entered the area, they drove full speed into the mess.