“I missed the step.”
“I gathered.”
Why wasn’t he moving? Why wasn’t he calling me every disgusting name in the book?
“This wasn’t exactly how I planned my escape.” He glanced at the full ditch outside the door, then back. “Am I crushing you,Gale?” He emphasized my name in a way that spoke volumes.
“N-no, but… I-I could have gone first.”
“This is far more fun, though, isn’t it?”
He wet his lips, then braced a foot on the side step. With a sly and knowing wink, he finally,finallyheaved himself off my lap and landed in the ditch with a splash, sinking to mid-thigh.
“Whoa. It’s deep here.”
More lightning flashed. More thunder crashed.
The storm raged on.
Fearing Ozrik would steal a glance at my traitorous body to confirm his suspicions, I tugged my shirt lower and was about to clamor out behind him when a look crossed his face, and he held up a finger.
I paused as he fumbled in the pocket of his raincoat and withdrew his lit-up phone.
“It’s working.” He laughed. “Sweet. I have a signal. Well, two bars. It’s Vern. Hang on.” He connected the call, stuffing a finger into his other ear as he shouted, “Hello.”
I used his distraction to properly calm down and ensure my body wasn’t on display.
Ozrik seemed to struggle to hear over the storm. Rain beat down on his head, soaking him anew. At one point, he shooed me to the passenger side and got back into the Jeep, slamming the door and blinking raindrops off his lashes.
“That’s better. Say again.” A long pause ensued. His face contorted as he listened. “Fuck. Are you serious?” Another pause. “Okay. Or we can walk through the flooded part, and—Whoa. Fuck. Vern, relax, I won’t. It was a suggestion.”
Another crackingboomrattled the windows. A gnarled branch about ten feet long, carried by the wind, bounced along the road and vanished into the ditch across the way.
“You’re breaking up… What? Hello?” Ozrik removed the phone from his ear and checked the screen. “Shit. I lost him.”
“What’s wrong?”
“Your sister said there was a tree down?”
“I don’t know what she said. I could barely hear her.”
“Well, thereisa tree down, and it took a string of power lines with it. It’s all flooded up that way, and Vern doesn’t think it would be wise to go anywhere near them. He said the whole area is compromised. Noah is calling the power company to let them know.”
I absorbed his words, glancing at the raging storm. “So, we’re stuck here?”
“For the time being. Unless you want to swim up the road the way I came, but—”
Lightning flashed and forked, reaching for the ground only a short distance from us. Thunder rode on its heels. “Are you insane?”
“Some would say yes.” Ozrik searched under the driver’s seat, found the lever to move it back a few inches, and stretched his legs the best he could. “That’s better. Might as well get comfy. It’s you and me for a while. Whatever shall we do?” The devilish smile returned to his face.
I couldn’t decide if this was my worst nightmare or my greatest fantasy come to life.
18
Ozrik
Ididn’t know what it was about boy-next-door Gale Windrow, but he was an infection under my skin, and the more I scratched, the itchier I got. Never mind the strange hum that ran through my veins whenever I was in his presence. It vibrated like an electric current and grew progressively stronger the longer we were together. If I didn’t ground myself soon, I was convinced he would short out my system.
