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Chapter Eleven
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Some experiences you couldn’t compare to anything in a movie.
Not that I could even think of movies right now. Or a single thing beyond surviving the next moment. Hopefully. Then the one after that. Hopefully.
God, I wished how the mental italics weren’t necessary. But they were. A layer of boldface would have been appropriate too.
As we drove—hydro glided?—our way through Sancti’s near-empty streets, I contemplated yet another Hail Mary reprise. Forget air turbulence; careening through a hurricane took home the award for best holy-shit-am-I-going-to-live moment from this trip. Or any other.
Despite the insane conditions, Captain Storm—yes, that was really Shai’s last name, and no, I didn’t go one inch near the snarky possibilities for it—handled the big SUV with the same quiet focus he directed at everything else, especially Crista. No time for playing matchmaker right now, though. Had I just called the conditions insane? No. Impossible fit so much better. Beyond the front windshield, the wind had turned the rain into sideways slashes, and water wasn’t the only thing getting hurled. Items like wood crates, whole bushes, and a pair of bicycles blew past the car. Jayd, Crista and I were death-gripping each other by the time Shai braked the vehicle on a rise overlooking tempestuous waters.
I did not want to get out.
The river looked like the Nile in The Ten Commandments—the epic Cecil B. Demille version, not the lame remake. The violent currents, filled with enough construction debris to confirm part of the Bridge construction had indeed given out, were bisected by rows of trees and structures that must’ve lined the river’s shore a few hours ago. Now, the trees resembled decorative parsley and the roofs poked from the flood like broken teeth of a giant zipper—or so it seemed when I could see anything through the sheet-like rain.
Shit was officially insane.
A standpoint Crista clearly argued—and put her money where her mouth was too.
We’d barely stopped before the woman clicked free from her seat belt, scrambled for the door, then tumbled out. Jayd was right behind her. At once, a huge gust slammed them back against the car, and they gripped the car handles for purchase. While I gasped, gaping like a numb dork, Jagger and Shai went into action. With powerful efficiency, they swooped out. Jagger flattened himself against Jayd, and Shai imitated the move for Crista—though she sure as hell wasn’t happy about it. Instantly she fought the confinement, flailing like crazy, but Shai tucked his head against her neck, barking forceful orders into her ear. I couldn’t understand the Arcadian but I understood the tone. He wasn’t going to be disobeyed. Luckily, she came to the same conclusion, and stilled.
Poor Jagger wasn’t having such an easy go with the princess. She gave back the yells as swiftly as he bellowed them, and batted away the rain poncho he offered with a few words I could make out, like “bossy ape”, “useless poncho”, and “not a little girl anymore”. Even under the circumstances, I almost broke out giggling. After this whole thing was over, Jagger was either going to murder her or screw her silly. After watching the way that warrior moved, I hoped Jayd was in for the latter.
They all turned, obviously preparing to descend the slope.
And I was still sitting in here, creating the mental Vegas odds pool about a Jagger-Jayd hookup.
My ass had to move, no matter how freaking scared that made me.
“Cheese and rice,” I berated in a mutter. “Come on, Luce. You’ve got this, dammit.” For the sake of helping two innocents out on their own in this shit without a Shai or Jagger of their own.
Right now, I was damn glad for the ones we had—explaining why I crawled across the seat and exited the SUV through the same door Crista and Jayd had used. The two of them would have to be happy sharing the guys for human anchor services.
Nothing could have been more true, as soon as I was hit by the barrage.
It seemed the only appropriate word for everything that hit me next—literally. The rain stung like BB pellets. The wind threatened to scalp me. The combined noise from both had me wondering where Mother Nature had hidden her subwoofers. The whomp against my ears was more deafening than the newest superhero movie in equally super stereo.
Without shame, I accepted the poncho Jayd had dissed. Somehow, I managed to get the thing over my shoulders, and my arms stabbed into the draping holes. Instantly, I understood the princess’s disdain. This thing was freaking useless. I was soaked in seconds.
Jagger inched toward the SUV’s hood, using the car for cover, his massive thighs bunching beneath his wet black combat pants. He angled one arm back, stabbing that forefinger toward the ground, and Shai backed up the order, yelling, “Get down! Stay low!”
Not a problem, buddy.
Unbelievably, Jayd joined me in complying with that—though the direction was as good as a flip-the-bird for Crista. She inched forward in Jagger’s wake, pushing up next to him, peering over the SUV’s hood. I made out the shadow of his glare as he looked down to her intent profile.
“Do you see anything?” she yelled—though the tempest already provided the answer. Well, lack of one. As far as we could see, the landscape was the same. Water. Mud. Rubble. Water.
Lots and lots and lots of water.
And nothing else—except for brief lulls in the wind allowing for glimpses up the river, where the higher banks existed. Flashes of lightning helped illuminate the skeletons of scaffolding that were still standing, battered over and over by the waves until relenting another chunk into the drink, making my own gut plummet with a strange, drowning foreboding.
No.No, dammit.
The kids had to be alive.
Children were resourceful—and a lot smarter than people usually gave them credit for. I wasn’t a mom but had vast experience with the subject, having thwarted thousands of little hands swiping at wedding cakes, chocolate fountains, and gift tables over the years. If the intelligence of their big sister was any clue, those twins would have found a way to stay safe. Somehow…
