✓ WICKED VOWS| JAKE (Book II )

48-Holding On In Hell

Jake's pov

The world seemed to tilt on its bloody axis, the ground below me unsteady as the weight of his words sank in. An explosive. Ana. The two thoughts collided in my head, creating a wave of panic that threatened to drown me.

"Where is she?" I spit out, my voice far sharper than I wanted, the darkness inside of me rearing its ugly head. "What road is she on?"

Terrence didn't stop: "She's on the A406, heading toward the North Circular Road; she's near the industrial area by the Lea Valley Reservoir. The road's mostly deserted at this hour, but you need to get in there fast. If she stops."

She didn't need to finish the sentence. I knew what would happen if she didn't. The very thought sent such a chill down my spine that I could feel my heart race with adrenaline and will myself to focus. Waves of nausea washed up through my throat.

"Keep tracking her," I said, already on my feet, my mind racing with the possibilities. "I'll handle it."

I did not wait for his response. The phone slipped back into my pocket even as I bolted out of the room, the urgency of the situation riding above all others like a cresting wave. I couldn't get the housemaid's terrified expression out of my mind, so I pushed the image aside and focused on only one thing: getting to Ana before it was too late.

The drive to North Circular Road felt like a blur, every second stretching into an eternity. The streets of London rolled past, one indistinct scene after another of headlights and shadows, familiar landmarks in the city twisted into something alien, something against me. Whatever it was, the darkness would drag me now—a living thing—a clawed beast wrapping itself around my throat, tightening by every mile I crossed.

I pushed the car faster. The engine roared in protest as I raced against the clock. In front of me was an industrial area near Lea Valley Reservoir. The desolation of the landscape brought no comfort. It was that part of the city where life's beat slowed, where the pulse of it faded into the background. A perfect setting for the unfolding nightmare.

And as I began approaching the road that Terrence told me Ana was at, there she was, on the very edge of visibility, her bike screaming the night like lightning. My heartbeat suddenly quickened, and all I felt was this rush of desperation at the sight of her: she didn't know. She couldn't know what danger she was in. Just the thought of her, all on her own, practically running toward disaster, turned my insides to churning.

I pressed down on the accelerator, the car hurtling down the road as I raced to close the gap. The headlights cast an eerie, narrow glow across the North Circular. All the while, the empty scene of the road was a stark contrast to the chaos in my mind. The skeletal frameworks of the large industrial structures on each side seemed to tower menacingly, all windows dark and indifferent, watching the scene unfold.

I was finally at close enough range to clearly see her, crouched over the bike with her hair whipping by in the wind. I leaned on the horn, the sound slicing through the night air, desperate to get her attention. She glanced back, her eyes going wide with surprise when she saw me, but she did not stop.

She can not stop that bike of hers. But why am I afraid of her stopping mid-stride? What if she stops long enough to set the explosives, then exacts her revenge on me by killing herself? She wouldn't... would she? No, because I'll make sure to follow her down into the depths of hell, die the same way she did—blown to pieces in a symphony of destruction. Oh, what a fitting sonata, don't you think?

She won't die. She won't die.

She dies.

I die.

I slammed the car door shut and revved the car's engine; the sun was already going down low on the horizon, which, at this time of day, always creates long shadows across the empty streets of London. The color of the sky appeared deep orange and purple, a far cry from the effect of cold fury boiling within me. Throughout my time in my head, I just kept replaying the image of Ana on her bike, as my heart was acting like an earthquake inside.