It’s been hard to focus on the road when I have my mate next to me looking so damn beautiful. I squeeze the steering wheel and let out a low growl that’s only meant for my ears.
Ruka is in the back, along with Millie and Jess. Westin, Jazz, and Reina are in the truck behind us since we all couldn’t fit in mine.
Nariko turns around. “Ruka, no weather-related anything tonight. Tonight is all about having fun. No work.”
“I have a bad feeling, Nari. Look. There are three supercells right now.”
Nariko snatches the phone away from her brother and zooms in on the screen. “That’s impossible.” She gasps when a fourth pops up on the screen. “There’s no way. This has to be a glitch.”
A fifth.
And they all seem to form around something, circling an invisible object that we can’t see. There’s only a town there. The cells aren’t moving either. They are still.
“Okay. These aren’t anywhere near us. They are closer to Tulsa. I’ll make an update now so the word can get out.”
“Five supercells, Nari? That’s unheard of. All those people,” he whispers in horror.
I check the rearview mirror; his eyes look dejected.
“The cells themselves don’t seem too strong.” Nari squeezes her brother’s knee. “I’m in the chat right now with other chasers, and they said there are no tornadoes on the ground, and their own radars aren’t picking up those cells. Maybe it’s a glitch. We will check back, okay?”
“If it isn’t a glitch, these could be the storms that give us the chance to get into an EF5 funnel, Nari. You can get the photo no one has ever dared to get before. It would be famous. You’d be famous.”
“You want to go into an EF5 tornado?” I chime in with rage burning on the back of my tongue.
I can’t stop her, but no sane person would risk their lives going into a fucking tornado that powerful. No one would survive. I might not know much about storms, but I do know that.
“No. I mean, yes. I did. I do want to get that once-in-a-lifetime picture from a major tornado.” She keeps changing her mind.
She does. She just doesn’t want to upset me.
“Can we all focus on having a good time?” She practically pleads, widening her eyes and pouting that pretty bottom lip at me I want to nip.
“Fine,” Ruka and I relent at the same time, only for us to glare at one another in the rearview mirror.
“Ya know, I can’t believe you wouldn’t invite me to this sort of thing.”
Everyone in the car screams or shouts. I’m startled enough I lose control of the truck and swerve off the road.
Only to find fucking Lorcan in the middle seat between me and Nariko. He’s in his human form, wearing all black clothes, black boots, and has eyeliner smudged on his orange glowing eyes.
“Oh my god!” The girls scream, wondering how Lorcan just appeared.
“What the fuck, Lorcan! You can’t do that. You can’t just pop up out of nowhere. You could have caused an accident.”
I correct the truck, getting on the right side of the road. The tires screech and the scent of rubber billows through the vents. The backseat is panicked, screaming, shouting, even kicking the seats to be let out of the truck.
Fear cranks up in the cab, and it becomes difficult to breathe. The air is heavy, as if all the oxygen has been removed from the space.
Fucking. Chaos. All thanks to this damn Void. He always does this.
Lorcan realizes his mistake, and with a wave of his hand, everyone calms. “They think you’ve just picked me up from my house,” he whispers out of the corner of his mouth. “Sorry about that. I forgot about the humans.”
“You are so dramatic, Oakley.” He rolls his eyes, speaking louder, pretending we are having a normal conversation. “Nariko, you look lovely.” He takes her hand and kisses her knuckles.
“Hey.” I slap his hand away from hers. “Lips to yourself.”
“Ugh, fine. So, where are we going? I finally have the night off from Death. I can’t remember the last time I had a night tomyself, you know? It’s had to be, what, four or five centuries now?”
