Broken Bonds (Unbreakable Bonds #1)

Chapter Nine

chapter nine

CELINE

I wrapped my arms tightly around Aidan, squeezing him, fear making me tremble. Why did he have to agree to this? This was reckless. We could get hurt. The roads were wet, and he knew not to race.

But he wouldn’t listen to me. He wouldn’t listen to reason. He was too prideful, and he’d been challenged.

“Don’t let go, baby.,” he urged, his voice muffled by his helmet. I squeezed him even tighter, my thighs gripping his, my feet resting on the perch he added on for me.

What would my parents think about this? What would his parents think? He promised his dad he would never race or do anything reckless. Aidan swore to respect the roads. He swore to keep me safe.

We would be okay. We would win the race, and then, we would go to our movie. He would kiss me halfway through the movie and hold my hand. We would laugh, and everything would go back to normal. It had to.

“Aidan, please, I’m so scared.” I hoped he could hear me over the revving of the bike. But even if he could, I should’ve known he wouldn’t listen to me. I should’ve known to never get on his bike when the roads were wet. We should’ve just taken my Jeep.

“Don’t worry, baby. I know what I’m doing.” No, he didn’t. If he knew, he wouldn’t have accepted the race. He wouldn’t have put us in danger.

“I don’t want to do this. I want to get off the bike. Aidan, please.” I hoped he could hear the fear in my voice, but even if he could, I didn’t think he would let me off the bike. He would never leave me on the side of the road by myself. But I’d prefer to be alone than on this bike, racing while the roads were wet.

“I’m not leaving you here.” My heart hammered against my breastbone. “Hold on tight, Celine. I’m not changing my mind.” He adjusted his grip on the handles and lowered his head, the engine revving beneath us. The bike trembled, the noise making me almost throw up. The guy beside us pulled off without warning, clearly cheating, which only made Aidan more reckless.

Aidan swore and followed right on his tail, leaving my stomach behind at the imaginary line. I held in a scream, not wanting to distract him. He had to be focused. It was the only thing that would get us out of this unscathed.

It was so dark that I could hardly see. I only hoped Aidan could see better with the headlight in front of him. I closed my eyes, wishing this would be over already. The wind was pushing against us, and with every puddle he sped through, water sloshed onto my legs and shoes.

I wished I was at home in bed. I wished I’d never accepted those flowers. Hell, I wished I’d never pushed him for a date in the first place.

Aiden suddenly braked, but he braked too hard. His tires screeched, and the handlebars were ripped from his grasp as the bike spun out of control, throwing us from the deadly machine. A panicked, raw scream tore from my throat as Aidan was yanked from my tight grasp, and we flew in different directions.

My body hit the ground first, and pain flooded through my system. The breath was instantly knocked from my lungs. My head followed my body down, hitting the asphalt with a hard smack.

I struggled to open my eyes. My head was pounding. My body was aching, but I couldn’t move my legs. A heavy, burning weight held them down, pinning me to the wet asphalt. Whatever was pinning me was hot. Too hot. I couldn’t take it.

Opening my eyes, I screamed.

“HELP!” I screeched, pain clawing at my throat. “Aidan, help!” His beautiful bike was in flames, and it was pinning me down.

I was going to burn alive.

I was going to die here all because he had to race the stupid prick with the better bike. Because he was too prideful. Because he didn’t love me enough.

Why hadn’t Aidan helped me? Oh, God, what had happened to him?

“Aidan!” I shouted his name over and over, screaming in agony as the flames licked at my jean-clad legs. I was going to die here on an abandoned road. I didn’t get to tell my mother and father I loved them. I didn’t say goodbye to Ryan before I left. Hell, I hadn’t even graduated high school yet.

What happened to the other guy? Didn’t he hear us crash? Didn’t he see us? Why did he have to race us? Where was he at? Why wasn’t he helping? Calling 911? Something?

Where was my phone? I needed to call for help.

I couldn’t feel my legs. I couldn’t feel my toes.

Oh, God, please let me survive this. Aidan still hadn’t answered me. Where the fuck was he?

Red and blue lights flashed in the distance, and the wail of sirens screeched in my ears, getting louder the closer they got. The lights were so bright, they hurt my eyes.

Had someone heard me yelling for help? Or had someone seen the flames?

I didn’t care how—I was so damn glad someone was finally coming.

They lifted the bike off me first, but I still couldn’t move. I couldn’t feel my legs, and I couldn’t bear to see how messed up they looked. I didn’t want to think about the pain I should be feeling. I had no feeling in my legs; it was like they may as well not even be there.

Paramedics and cops asked me question after question, but I couldn’t understand what they were saying. My ears were beginning to ring, and my head hurt so bad.

I wished they would stop talking. I just wanted to sleep.

Where was Aidan? Was he okay?

Two men lifted me onto a stretcher, and pain flared through my body, a distressed noise tearing from my already raw and abused throat. Fire licked through my veins, the pain so bad, I almost threw up.

Then, I saw him. His helmet was off. His neck was bent at an awkward angle. A body bag was being laid out beside him.

An agonized, raw scream tore from my throat. I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t breathe. Panic bled from every orifice of my body.

Something sharp pricked my arm, and my eyelids quickly grew heavy.

Then, in the darkness, there was no more pain, no blood, no fire . . . just nothing .

Blissful nothing.

“Celine! Celine! Wake up! Celine, goddammit, wake up !” I opened my eyes, glaring up at Ace. He looked half-crazed, shaking me from my flashback. My cheeks were wet from tears, my body damp from sweat. “We have to go, Celine! We have to go!” Gripping my arms, he yanked me out of my bed, throwing my discarded sweatpants at me.

“Don’t look at me!” I screamed, my voice hoarse from sleep, embarrassed of my burned and scarred legs. I didn’t even know why I was panicking. I’d been wearing shorts yesterday, and he hadn’t looked then… had he? I didn’t think he had.

God, I was always so discombobulated after a flashback.

“What are you talking about?” He looked so confused, but I was already shoving my legs into the pants before he could possibly see them again. I was too raw. Too splayed open.

“Why did you wake me?” Ace pulled open my closet, found a backpack, and then began throwing clothes into it. He rushed through our bathroom to Ryan’s room and threw some of his things into the bag as well. Why was he panicking? What in the hell was going on? It was too early for this, and I was too tired and hungover.

“Ace, what the hell are you doing?” I rubbed my eyes, trying to make sense of why he was acting like a maniac. My head hurt, and I just wanted to go back to sleep.

Ace ran back into the room and came to stand in front of me, his blue eyes wide with panic. I frowned. He hadn’t even been panicked when he realized we were stranded here until the hurricane passed. Why was he panicking now?

Oh, God, it was something bad . I could feel it in my gut.

“It’s flooding, Celine.” I swallowed thickly, his words sending a spike of fear through my blood. “The sandbags didn’t work. The water is coming in downstairs, and we have to get out of here. “

Water. Inside the house. Was he crazy? It couldn’t be flooding, could it? My parents had taken extra precautions on this house to try to prevent that. Was it really flooding?

Ace shook me, making my stomach slosh dangerously. “Celine, wake the hell up. The water is rushing in downstairs, and we need to get out of here now !” Ace was standing in front of me, one hand on my shoulder, the other handing me the backpack. Then, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room.

I could hear the slosh of running water now. Oh, no.

He was running down the stairs, skipping steps, and I couldn’t keep up with him. I ripped my hand from his, staring in horror all around me. Water had started to climb up the wooden stairs, and all the furniture was getting wet. The cards we left out last night on the coffee table were floating all over the place. Everything was going to be ruined. Mom and Dad were going to be so mad at me for not keeping the house safe. Their dream house—one they worked so hard to have.

Ace didn’t stop when his bare feet hit the water on the stairs. He kept going, running through the water to grab a few water bottles and my phone from the kitchen counter. He looked at me for a moment where I stood on the last dry step, looking at my ruined living room and kitchen. At the vacation house where I shared so many memories with Aidan.

Just like the man himself, it was ruined now.

Ace ran up the few stairs to where I stood frozen, handed me my phone, and ran back down the stairs without a word. He was rushing around the house like those people on Black Friday, who ran and fought for the flat screens, water splashing up with every step he took.

He didn’t seem to notice that his pants were getting soaked. He was too focused on gathering essentials.

“No. We can’t leave. We’re safe here,” I finally managed to utter. He didn’t answer me. “Listen to me!” I shouted. He must have heard the panic in my voice because he stopped and turned to me. His eyes were encased with fear, but there was a steely determination too that I envied.

“I am listening, princess. Now, you need to listen to me . We have to get out of here and get to dry land. We have to go on foot, so put your damn shoes on and march your ass out the door.”

“We can take the Jeep,” I tried. He shook his head.

“Your car and my bike won’t be any good in the water, and you have a flat. We don’t know how bad it’s going to get out there. Hell, I don’t even know where we’re going to go. All I know is we can’t stay here. The waves are too rough, and it could destroy this house. We can’t be in here if it does.”

He was standing in the kitchen now. Water was rushing up his legs, and he kept running his hands through his thick, black hair. He was losing it, and he was supposed to be the sane one.

I slid the heavy backpack onto my shoulders and stepped into the cold water. Goosebumps trailed up my arms and neck as I rushed through the water, soaking my sweatpants, and sloshed over to his side. Taking his hand, I pulled him to the garage where we left our shoes. Once we had them on, he nudged me toward the door and ran through the house again.

It was pouring outside, and the wind was blowing furiously, so I stood close to the door under the little archway, trying to stay dry for as long as I could. Ace ran out the door, his hands loaded with bars and water bottles. I took the backpack off, and he dumped everything inside, then swung it onto his broad shoulders. Tightening the two straps, he looked at me, determination flickering in his blue depths, the panic now gone—like it’d never been there in the first place.

Ace closed the front door and held out his hand to me. Drawing in a deep breath, I took it, deciding now wasn’t the time to remember what he said about me—that I wasn’t his type. Right then, I needed his support. I needed him by my side.

As we stepped out into the pouring rain, the wind blew my hair into my eyes, and I pulled my hand from Ace’s to tie my hair into a sloppy ponytail with the black elastic on my wrist.

We were going to be okay. I was going to survive this. I would see my parents again. This wasn’t a repeat of the accident. Ace would protect me. He wasn’t Aidan, and he wouldn’t put me in danger. In fact, he was already trying to get us away from it.

Ace stepped out into the chaos, leaving our safe haven behind.

“There should be a shelter nearby. We’ll be safe there. They’ll be better prepared than us for this catastrophe.” He turned to squint at me through the heavy rain and held out his hand again, a silent offer. “Don’t be scared, Celine. I’ll keep you safe.”

His words eased the fear ratcheting higher in my body, and I could see the truth in his intense, blue-eyed gaze. So, I took his outstretched hand, and he pulled me into the cold rain. A chill went up my spine as the rain lashed against my skin, instantly freezing me to the bone.

With courage I didn’t know I had, I walked straight into the hurricane, Ace’s hand clutched tightly in mine.