3.1 | Animal Instinct ✓

14 | trust

1 4

t r u s t

ALL I REGISTERED was the smell of smoke and blood.

But as my vision aligned, Jed's face slowly but surely came into view. He was hovering over me, crimson blood streaking down one side of his face but he didn't seem to care. Instead, I felt the warmth of his palm as he held my face with a shaking hand.

"Quinn."

His voice sounded so strangled and terrified that it was almost physically painful to hear. But all too quickly, I became aware of a dull ache at the base of my neck, only cushioned by a steady brace that was his right arm. I dragged in a deep breath, watched his eyes scan my face rapidly as he tried to figure out whether I was conscious.

"Jed," I breathed, clutching at his shoulders. "I – I'm – " I broke off in a coughing fit.

He removed my seatbelt and wrapped his arm around my waist. The car weighed down on us; thick smoke threatened to engulf us. I stifled a whimper as he lifted the crushed dashboard that trapped my legs.

"Quinn." His voice rose sharply in faint panic when I squeezed my eyes shut, my head pounding with sheer pain. Tipping my head up, he brushed the pad of his thumb gently across my cheek until I was opening my eyes, blinking the dust away as I stared up at him. "Stay with me," He insisted, waiting until I had gaze squarely. When I finally focused on him again, he lowered his head, nudging my nose with his as he repeated, "Stay with me."

"Y-yeah, okay."

I dug my fingers deeper into his skin, knowing that the pain wasn't going to hurt him but it was an involuntary action, especially when he gently pulled me out of the mangled seat. When he dragged us out of the wreckage, he placed me by the roadside. I felt the sting of gravel on my legs, the sun scorching down on us, but that hardly mattered. All I could see was the wreck that the car had been reduced into. The car had been flipped on its side, the driver's seat entirely crushed. Mine wasn't. With vacant horror, I stared at Jed and realised that his arms were covered in blood, dark crimson seeping into his jeans and his leg bent at an awkward angle.

It wasn't until then that it occurred to me that Jed's arm had kept me in place. Kept my head from whipping back and my neck from snapping. That he'd bore the brunt of the crash, and he'd probably known it, but it hadn't mattered to him because his first thought was to keep me safe.

Coughing twice, I pushed myself upright and clutched at his arm. "You're hurt really badly," I choked, eyes blurring with tears that were an equal blend of horror and pain. "Do you need me to – call an ambulance, or anything?"

He shook his head, and I knew what he meant. No ambulances; no humans should treat his wounds. They couldn't find out what he was. He dragged himself to his feet and looked around. But the other car had already disappeared, and there were no witnesses to the accident. It didn't take a genius to figure out who had done it, though. The fact that Malthus Trevino and his allies had tried to kill us in broad daylight made it all the more terrifying.

After awhile, Jed seemed satisfied that there wasn't a looming threat anywhere near. He returned from the wreckage with his bag intact, ripped in some places but otherwise none the worse for wear. Then he sat down on the pavement, hesitantly stretching out an arm to me. I didn't hesitate to bury myself in his embrace, gingerly at first, because I was worried that I'd aggravate his injuries. But he didn't seem to mind; simply pressing his lips to my forehead and tucking his arm around my shoulder, mindless to his wounds.

Curling my feet up, I tucked myself against his chest, shivering to keep my fears at bay. To keep from breaking down. I had no doubt that Jed had mind-linked Adrian and the others back on Titan land, and they were probably on their way. Jed reached up and pressed his fingers gently to the base of my neck, adding a fleeting pressure in arbitrary patterns. The sharp pain that had been shooting through my nerve ends seemed to dim down when he did that, and I took several calming breaths, reaching for his other hand and interlocking my fingers through his.