Page 80 of Jessica's Hero

But going to Blade and Arrow means at least a ten-minute detour. Ten minutes I can’t afford if Jess is truly missing, like my gut is telling me she is. “Just forward me her GPS location,” I reply. “I can follow her on my own.”

“You could,” Cole says. “And I get it. You want to rush after her on your own. But if you’re in a patrol car, thatcould tip someone off. Plus… you might need backup. Don’t do this on your own.”

For a moment, I’m frozen by indecision.

Do what my instincts are telling me and go by myself? Or accept the help my friends are offering?

Shit.

What do I do?

Then I decide. “I’m coming to you. But be ready to leave as soon as I get there. I’m not waiting a minute longer.”

“Okay.” Footsteps tap along a hard floor, almost in a run. “I’ll get the SUV prepped. And?—”

He stops. “Hang on.” A few silent seconds go by while I race through Sleepy Hollow and towards the outskirts of town, where the B and A headquarters are located. “Shit.”

“Shit?”

“Nora just got to the lab. Apparently the fire alarm went off about an hour ago. The building had to be evacuated. She can’t find Jess inside.”

Terror explodes in my chest. Gray spots edge into my vision.

Fuck.

I never should have let her go there alone.

“We’ll find her,” Cole says, sounding enviably confident. “She’s going to be okay.”

“She has to be,” I manage through a constricting throat. “I can’t lose her. I can’t.”

CHAPTER 17

JESS

I’m back in the nightmare again.

The one I haven’t been able to escape since I was eighteen.

My head throbbing, pain searing through me, everything spinning.

It’s eerily quiet; with just the faintest hiss of something—steam? flames kindling? my ears malfunctioning—reaching towards me through a fog of confusion.

I can’t move.

Can’t speak.

Can’t remember.

Why am I here? Why does everything hurt?

Then on silent, menacing feet, reality creeps in.

Kissing Liam. The fight. Jumping into his car despite common sense telling me not to. Weaving down the road, veering over the glowing yellow lines. Liam laughing when I told him to slow down. Begging him to pull over.

And then.

The curve. The one morbidly nicknamed the Horseman’s Revenge. Flying off the road, trees a blur on either side. The huge pine right in front of us. Terror. Pain. And finally, darkness closing in.