JEOPARDY: The Cursed Soldier.

45. Her Fate

Kayla drove through the lone road that joined the Lunarheart palace and the city with a giddy heart.

Although she had slept with a heavy heart after saying goodbye to Alex and Rebecca, she woke up with hope for the future. A hope that was further ignited by how seamlessly that morning had gone.

She had been a little nervous about her plan to lie her way out of the pack. But as soon as she told Gamma Andrei and Markos that Angela had sent her on an errand, they let her go without hesitation. They had bombarded her with countless instructions on how to handle another vampire if she encountered one. But the important thing was that they had let her go.

Now, here she was... driving to her freedom.

Reaching for her phone with the hand that wasn't on the wheel, she tapped on it and saw the unread text notification on the screen. She tapped on the icon and saw that she had received a text from Ivan.

Ivan: I'm here.

Kayla's lips curved into a wide beam. 'Here' was their burger joint. They had agreed to meet there, and then drive to the airport in Ivan's car.

The reminder of the fact that she was leaving Soleria and starting a whole new life, made her giddy all over again. She was--

CLANG!

She heard the sound before she lost control of the car. One minute she was smiling over the thoughts of her future, and the next she was trying to keep the car on the road and in her control.

The tires screeched loudly, matching the pounding in her head as she struggled to understand what was happening and how to prevent a crash.

Frantically, she slammed on the brake, but nothing happened. It was like the car was sliding down the road and there was nothing she could do about it.

She scanned her surroundings, searching for a clue. But everything appeared normal, adding to her mounting panic.

Heaving, she kept working the wheel to keep the car on the road while she tried to think of what Ivan would do in that situation. Instantly she remembered the day she had almost crashed Ivan's car and reached for the handbrake. She pressed on it... And still, nothing.

The car kept moving like it had a mind of its own, and only one mission: To kill her.

Again, panic tempted to swallow her whole. But she remembered what her father told her about dealing with new and dangerous situations.

Always solve a dangerous situation with a calm but rational mind.

She tried to calm down while everything was tumbling out of control. And did the one thing she could which was keep the car on the road. It kept moving in a zigzag, but at least it wasn't running off the road... yet.

No sooner had she decided to do that than something hit her car. Hard. And she was thrown to the side. Suddenly, her face was pressed on the window and her body against the seat while the car rolled to the side.

Kayla's heart stuttered and the air was knocked right out of her lungs. She tried to budge, but the seatbelt dug into her chest, pinning her in place.

The car kept rolling and throwing her around, until finally, it stopped--upside down--and banged her head into the glass shield. A searing pain consumed her head while the belt dug into her flesh.

'You have to move. We have company.' Verina warned, urgently, pushing at their bond.

The smell of burned metal and another that she couldn't place choked her into a coughing fit. But she had to heed Verina's warning. So she tried pushing herself off the seat but the seatbelt held her back again.