“Did you leave it at the poor girl’s house?”
Do I hear jealousy? I should tell her I fucked someone. That would crush any…odd, slim, next to nothing chance she and I have together.
“I broke it when I got a call I didn’t want to get.” I’m starting to wonder if I should have answered that call from Seer. I wonder if this was what he was going to warn me about. There aren’t many times I want to know my future, but I would have wanted to know this.
The last thing I want is to be stuck out here with Mary.
“Okay, someone will come. It’s impossible not to see that fire from a distance,” she sighs, sitting down on the desert floor again. “We wait.”
I don’t have the heart to tell her that there have been plenty of people on the side of Loneliest Road that never get helped. They eventually wander the desert for help, only to never been seen again. As long as we stick to the road and follow it, we will be fine.
Not many people travel this road at once. It could be hours before another car comes. I sit down on the desert floor too, wondering how the hell I ended up here.
It’s not like this can get any worse.
Thunder rolls above us, and out of the corner of my eye, I see Mary’s head tilt back on her shoulders to look at the sky just like I am. When did storm clouds roll through? Out of all the times it never rains, the weather has to choose today out of all days to show itself?
This is a cruel joke.
“Karma, for leaving me in jail.”
I wish I had tape to keep her mouth shut. All of my torture supplies were in my saddlebag, which is currently roasting.
Stay. Calm.
Don’t. Kill. Her.
Thunder vibrates the ground floor, and the first droplet falls on my face. “If it rains and puts out the fire, no one will come,” she points out.
“Well, let’s not sit here then, let’s go home. We just have to follow the road.” I hold out my hand to help her up, and she decides not to take it.
Independent woman and all that. Good for her.
Or she’s as stubborn as a mule and needs a good smack on the ass.
From my hand.
Because even though she drives me crazy, her body makes me crazier.
In the next blink, heavy blankets of rain come billowing down, stinging my skin and soaking my hair. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I roar to the sky, and in return, lightning cracks in the middle of the road in reply.
Mary grips my hand, then immediately lets go of me when she realizes what she did. My shirt is soaked, the water is flowing into my mouth, and I want to curse myself for not paying attention to the damn weather.
My damn bike is ash, and I’m stuck with a woman that pisses me off as much as she turns me on.
Another bolt of lightning strikes the middle of the road, and the clouds start to spin. “Oh, no.” Whether she likes it or not, I grab her hand and start to run in the opposite direction toward the mountains. If I know one thing about tornados, it’s that they need flat land to gain strength. “Come on. We need to go. Now.” How can all of this happen in one day?
I’m starting to wonder if the Ruthless Kings are cursed. There is always fucking something we have to deal with.
Always.
“Hurry up,” I tell her, dragging her behind me as we haul ass to the mountains.
“I’m hurrying as much as I can! My feet were on fire a minute ago, if you don’t remember.”
Damn it, she’s right. Instead, I stop and swing her into my arms. “What are you doing?” she squeaks.
“Hurrying like I fucking want to.” I throw her over my shoulder, wrap an arm around her legs, and check behind me to see if the funnel is being formed. My heart aches when I see the burnt pieces of my bike and the flames dwindling from the fire. The smoke will be there for a while. It’s just as black as the sky is turning. I glance up to see the beginning of a funnel starting. The clouds are spinning, and I swallow, wondering if we are going to be able to get away in time.
“Why did we stop? Is everything okay?” she asks.
No. We are about to be tornado fodder. I turn around and look into the woods. The mountains are right behind them, and I know there are plenty of nooks and crannies we can hide in. I start sprinting toward the forest again, through the wind and rain. My eyes sting as the water bullets them. I don’t have a free hand, so I can’t wipe my face.
Small beads of hail start to fall next. The black clouds light up above us, and a second later, the thunder follows. I hiss when they pepper my skin, and as I enter the canopy of the trees, the only thing I can feel is the danger of the storm surrounding us and the whistling through the wind.
“Knives, I’m freaking out.”
“Everything is fine. I just want to make sure we’re away from the threat.” I don’t want to tell her that I’m freaking out too. Bad fucking omens everywhere. Maybe this is the universe telling me that if Mary and I get together, the world will explode.
Because not a damn thing has gone right since I’ve kissed her.
Damn, I should’ve answered Seer’s call. I’ll have to apologize to him.
Suddenly, the wind calms. The rain stops. I can’t hear the hail against the leaves or falling against the ground.
“Fuck,” I hiss when a realization hits me.
“What? What is it? I can’t see anything other than your ass.”
“Like that’s a bad thing. I have a great ass,” I say, trying to keep things light as I run away from the tornado.
Silence.
Even nature speaks the loudest when it’s quiet.
I burst through the other side of the woods, and my feet dig into the rocks to stabilize us as we try to get to the top.
“I’ve seen better asses,” she grumbles, and I know she’s joking.
She better be joking.
I don’t like the idea of her looking at another man, even if I can’t stand her.
I want to be the only man she stares at in anger, frustration, annoyance, and love.
Love. Let’s not get crazy. Let’s start with like.
“Will you shut up? I’m trying to save our lives.”
“You’re doing a heck of a job.”
The sarcasm. I want to spank her ass. “Yeah, I don’t see you doing anything, fire toes,” I say, digging my feet into the mud as I start to climb. My boots slide, unable to maintain a decent grip.
“Well, put me down, and I’ll show you what I can do.”
Yeah, I’m not stupid. She’s going to punch me across the face. I ignore her because I have better things to do, like trying to find us shelter in two minutes before we are sucked up in a funnel. When I’m high enough up the mountain, I look over the desert to see the small bonfire created by my motorcycle just as the funnel touches the ground. It’s slow-moving, barely spinning, but the funnel itself is growing.
I set Mary down and spin her around, pointing to the tornado. “Do you see that? Do you see why I’m trying to get us the hell out of here now? If you want to help, help look for a place to hide.”
“Oh my god. I’ve never seen a tornado before,” she whispers, her face losing all amounts of color.
“We are going to be fine,” I say, wanting to give her hope. Desert storms are intense, sometimes quick, and come out of nowhere. Just like this one. A few miles away, I can see blue skies, but right now, that beautiful blue color is hidden by darkness. “Come on, let’s go around.” I take her hand in mine again and pull her toward the direction I want to go in. I’m keeping my eyes on our surroundings while also trying to keep an eye on the tornado. It’s inching down the road, but tornados have a mind of their own. Any moment, they can change direction and shift.