Page 5 of Heavy Crown

“Take it anyway,” I say.

Kane grimaces and makes the turn. As we drive, there’s a thick fog, but it’s sitting at the surface of the road and no match for the SUV, which is higher and has excellent fog lights. Anyone in a compact or vehicle low to the ground would struggle. Despite our advantages, we still can’t see very far ahead of us, and I’m sure Kane is cursing me under his breath.

There are intermittent streetlights, and one glints off something metal up ahead. “What is that?” I ask. The fog is thicker here, making it harder to decipher what’s in the middle of the road.

It takes Kane a moment to answer. “Better call for an ambulance,” he says. “There’s a wreck of some sort.”

The closer we get, the more the scene comes into focus. At his suggestion, I’ve called the emergency services number, and I keep my phone glued to my ear, rattling off details as we inch toward the accident. In the middle of the road is a crumpled sports car, but it’s the compact hanging at the edge of the cliff that sets my pulse racing.

I hang up on the operator even as she’s warning me to stay on the line, and I open my door.

“Your Highness!” Kane calls from the driver’s seat. “The fog is thick. Stay in the vehicle.”

Remaining in the SUV isn’t an option. I’m at the driver’s side door of the compact in an instant. The seat is broken, and a young woman with blond hair has been knocked flat onto her back. She’s unconscious, and there’s a gash on her head leaking an alarming amount of blood.

Kane has thrown on the hazards in the SUV, and he’s at my side now. “Seriously, sir. You could get hit by some other idiot taking this road in such thick fog.”

I ignore the implication that I’m an idiot for insisting we take this road and walk around the car, trying to determine whether opening the driver’s side door could tip the balance of the vehicle in the wrong direction.

“We need to get her out,” I say.

“We need to wait for the professionals.” Kane shadows my examination. “If we get this wrong, the car is over the cliff.”

Is he right?

There’s an aura around the woman in the driver’s seat that’s tugging at something inside me I don’t recognize. I need to get to her, and I can’t ignore it or tamp down the protectiveness swirling in my belly. Whatever feeling this is, it’s primal, not something I can switch off.

A wind kicks up around us off the ocean, and the car groans. If I stand here and do nothing, and the car goes over the edge, I’ll never forgive myself.

“Right,” I say. “I’m getting her out.”

“Your Highness—”

“Help me or watch me, but I’ve decided.” There are a thousand valid reasons for leaving her in the car, not the least of which is that I could do more damage by dragging her out than leaving her there. None of them matters. An instinct is driving me, so deeply ingrained I can’t articulate it. Can’t understand it. But I’m not disregarding it either.

I grab the door handle, and Kane’s hand settles over mine.

“You’re sure about this?” he asks.

“Yes.” I’ve never been more certain of anything. Whoever she is, I need to get her out of the car.

“I’ll open the door,” Kane says. “You undo her seat belt and scoop her out. Slow and steady, yeah?”

I step to the side of the door, and my pulse races. Kane eases the door open, and the car sways slightly. I suck in a sharp breath, but as soon as the door is wide enough, I’m reaching in, clicking the seat belt open, and lifting her into my arms. She’s heavier than that she looks, and I grunt as I maneuver her. The car shifts around us, rocking and tilting.

“It’s moving!” Kane hollers in a panic.

He tugs on my suit jacket, but I’m not leaving her. The car might take me down into the watery abyss, too, but I can’t leave her. “Almost,” I mutter and readjust my grip.

She moans and curls into me, still unconscious. The movement is enough to steady my grip while the car shudders underneath her, tipping more. Gravel crunches under the tires. Kane yanks on my suit jacket, dragging me back, and I’ve got her in my arms and out the car door as the car falls away from us, tumbling over the cliff. The three of us hit the ground with an oomph, and if Kane hadn’t grabbed my jacket, altering my center of gravity, we might have gone over too.

“Fucking hell,” Kane says from behind me. “Too close. Way, way too close.”

Sirens blare in the distance, but I can’t formulate a coherent thought. I’m staring down at the pale blonde in my arms, and the tightness across my chest is unbearable, as though I can’t quite get a full breath. She almost died.

“I think I cracked a rib,” I mumble. Is that what this feeling is?

“I’ll take her.” Kane gets to his feet and tries to accept her weight, but I tighten my grip.