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“I’m not that nice a person,” she said, making a face. But then she paused, remembering how she used to walk the woods, looking for hurt animals to save.
“You’ve thought of something,” said Hunter.
“It’s nothing. I used to rescue animals. It made my mother crazy. It was just a phase.”
“Aha.” Hunter stepped closer, then spoke low, just for her. “Remember when you kissed me on the dance floor?”
She flushed, then nodded.
“Remember,” he said quietly, “how you felt the power in the room? The connection to the crowd?”
She did. The fire on her lips, the sweat on her body—she remembered it all.
Becca stared up at him.
He must have seen something like acceptance in her eyes. “You believe me. You might not want to admit it yet, but you do.”
“But my parents aren’t like you,” she sputtered. “They’re not—”
“Your mom’s a nurse,” said Michael. “What’s your dad do?”
She bit at her lip, remembering Chris’s comment about Fifths hitting the genetic lottery. “He works with wildlife—”
Casper barked, somewhere in the woods up ahead.
“Come on,” said Hunter. He took off at a run. They followed.
The dog had stopped at the edge of the woods, just before a long stretch of grass that ran beside the creek. Charred branches littered the ground and burns scored the grass.
“Lightning,” said Gabriel, his voice grave. He looked up at the cloudless sky, then back at the ground. “A lot of it.”
“Chris was running for the water,” said Michael.
Casper barked again, spinning in circles.
“He didn’t make it,” said Hunter. “Come on. I think Casper’s found a new scent to follow.”
The dog led them to the road, to the far side of the bridge that had been destroyed. The county had put up concrete barriers and those ROAD CLOSED signs, and some random construction equipment was parked along the side of the road.
“This is where we saw the Guide last Tuesday,” she said. She was starting to get a little breathless from trailing Casper, though the guys weren’t having any trouble. “How far have we gone? Like three miles?”
Gabriel gave her a look. “Like one.”
So she needed more cardio.
“That night of the bridge collapse,” said Hunter. “That’s the first time you saw him? Was he on foot?”
“Yes,” said Gabriel.
“No car?”
Gabriel shook his head. “We chased him off, but he ran for the woods.” He pointed east, toward the tree line on the other side of the road. “We were able to pull a hell of a lot of power from the storm. I thought it was the adrenaline, but I couldn’t generate anywhere near as much last night.”
“No kidding,” said Hunter. He gave her a grim smile. “Becca wasn’t with you.”
Her breath caught, and she wanted to protest.
But she remembered feeling the power that night, too. The strength in the storm, the way the wind and rain had kissed her skin and called for vengeance. “Holy crap,” she whispered.
