Page 139 of Merry Fake Bride

“I swear!”

Whether it’s the cold or the urgency of the situation, Axel accepts my words immediately and climbs off me.

I struggle to my feet and stumble as uneven ground sends me back onto the forest floor.

Up the incline, the distantdingfrom the no seatbelt warning radiates through the air while a broken headlight from the crashed car flickers in the same rhythm.

“Get up!” Axel barks.

The cold numbs my knees and palms.

As I shift my weight to stand, my frozen fingers brush against something cold and rough.

A fallen branch from one of the nearby trees.

It’s difficult to make out in the dark but while it’s thick, it’s narrow enough to fit in my hand.

My body reacts before my mind catches up.

Grabbing the branch, I jerk my arms up as I stand and swing the wood at Axel’s head.

There’s a crunch as the branch hits his skull and Axel yelps, hitting the ground in a flurry of frozen leaves, snow, and clumps of dirt dislodged from the branch.

Then I run.

The branch slips from my fingers as I sprint toward the car, my only spot of safety wherever we’ve ended up. It’s the direction of the road and from there

I’ll just run.

I’ll run until the soles of my feet bleed. I’m not going back.

“Devon!” Axel’s voice echoes through the trees, but I don’t stop.

I run and I run.

My shoes slip on the leaves, the embankment threatens to toss me back down into his cruel arms, but I fight through it.

I claw my way up past the tree, past the crashed car, and over mounds of dirt to reach the top.

My head spins.

Warm blood trickles down my cheek.

My heart pounds and my joints ache almost as much as my arm does.

But I made it.

Empty road stretches out into yawning darkness in either direction, offering zero comfort or hope.

Skid marks in the snow are my only hint toward which direction we were driving when we crashed.

Up here, snow is falling in thick clumps as if the cloud above has torn open.

The air turns a bite colder, if that’s even possible, and I stare toward the emptiness with despair flooding my chest.

What do I do?

“DEVON!”