Chapter 299
Chapter 299
I didn’t answer. I just stared at him, pouring every ounce of hate I had into my eyes.
From the corner of my vision, movement caught my attention. I turned my head—and froze.
Drones. Several of them. Cutting through the air, weapons flashing as they fired at Isaiah’s car.
My heart slammed violently against my ribs. Fear unlike anything I’d ever known flooded me, cold and suffocating.
Tom shoved me aside. I leaned forward helplessly, watching it unfold like a nightmare I couldn’t wake from—like a spectacle built around my life.
Isaiah shot three of the drones out of the sky. They shattered midair, metal raining down in sparks.
But there were more. Too many.
He was one man, how would he overcome them all..
Just as Isaiah swerved again, forcing his car sideways to avoid the drones diving at him, gunfire erupted—from the opposite end of the road.
Not Isaiah’s gun.
Not his hands.
The shots were sudden and brutal, loud enough to make my ears ring. They cut through the air with sharp cracks, ripping straight into the drones. Metal burst apart mid-air. Sparks flew in violently. One drone spun wildly, smoking as it lost control before crashing into the road. Another jerked sideways, its balance gone, before shattering into pieces. A third exploded completely
I sucked in a broken breath, my chest aching as relief slammed into me all at once. My lungs burned. My hands trembled. For one fragile moment, hope rushed through me so fast it made me dizzy.
Maybe this was it.
Maybe he would make it.
Tom reacted instantly.
“What the fuck?” he roared, slamming his palm into the steering wheel so hard the car jerked. His face twisted, rage sharp and ugly, his teeth clenched so tight his jaw flexed. “Those idiots—”
He never finished the sentence.
Because even as the last drone dropped from the sky, more cars flooded onto the road—this time from Tom’s side
They came fast. Engines screaming, headlights blazing, filling every open space. They didn’t slow down.
Gunfire exploded again.
This time, it wasn’t aimed at the drones.
It was aimed at Isaiah’s men.
The relief inside me shattered instantly, turning sharp and painful.
Cars lost control. Tires screeched violently as rubber burned against the road. Windows burst open, glass spraying everywhere. One of Isaiah’s cars veered hard and slammed into the divider with a sound that made my stomach twist. Another was forced off the road completely, disappearing in a mess of sparks and smoke.
“Isaiah,” I whispered, my voice barely there.
My hands shook uncontrollably. My breathing broke apart, coming too fast, too shallow, like my body no longer remembered how to breathe properly.
His car surged forward again, faster now, weaving through the chaos with reckless precision. He drove like a man chasing something just out of reach, like if he stopped even for a second, he would lose everything.
Then—
A truck.
It came out of nowhere. Huge, loud and unstoppable.
My heart dropped so suddenly it felt like my chest hollowed out.
Time slowed.
Everything slowed.
I saw the truck’s massive front as it entered the road. I saw its lights flare. I saw Isaiah’s car swerve sharply, tires screaming as he tried to avoid it. I saw the exact second he realized there was no space left.
The impact was deafening.
Metal screamed.
Glass exploded outward.
Isaiah’s car spun violently, slamming into the barrier, rolling once—twice—before crashing sideways in a violent, crushing stop.
Tom’s car screeched to a halt.
So did every other car, like the world itself had frozen in shock.
I didn’t know when we stopped moving.
I didn’t know when my seatbelt came off.
I didn’t know when the door was open.
I only knew my body was running.
I tore at the door, stumbled onto the road, my legs barely holding me up, and ran toward Isaiah without thinking. My heart pounded painfully in my throat. Tears blurred my vision, but I didn’t slow down.
“Isaiah!” I screamed, my voice cracking apart.
I was almost there.
Almost.
A hand grabbed me hard from behind, fingers digging into my arm, yanking me back.
“No—!” I screamed, thrashing wildly. I clawed, kicked, fought with everything I had. “Let me go! Let me go!”
I fought like an animal, sobbing, cursing, screaming his name as I stretched toward the wreck, toward the man who was my whole world.
Then—
“BOOM!”
Fire erupted violently.
The sound was monstrous.
Heat slammed into my face, scorching, and unbearable, stealing the air from my lungs.
Isaiah’s car went up in flames.
The fire climbed fast, roaring, swallowing twisted metal whole.
My scream died in my throat.
The sound disappeared completely, like someone had ripped it out of me.
The hand holding me loosened. Then let go.
I fell backward onto the road, hitting the ground hard. I didn’t feel the pain. My body felt numb, empty.
The sob that tore out of my chest was deep. Loud. Broken. "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
I crawled on my hands and knees, crying, choking, dragging myself across the road toward him. My palms burned. My knees scraped. I didn’t stop.
The flames surged again—higher, hotter, impossible to ignore.
I froze.
My body locked in place.
The heat was too much. The fire too close. My instincts screamed what my heart refused to accept.
Someone was shouting my name.
“Tamara—!”
I didn’t answer.
I couldn’t.
Get to Isaiah.
Get to Isaiah.
That was all my mind screamed, again and again, drowning everything else out.
But how could I reach a man who wasn’t moving?
How could I get to a man who wasn’t breathing?
How could I touch a man who would never stand again?