Burning up the Rain (Hawaiian Heroes) by Cade Cathryn

Author:Cade, Cathryn [Cade, Cathryn]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2013-05-06T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Jack turned off the highway at the road down to Nawea, but when he saw no other vehicles in the rearview mirror, he put his foot on the brake.

“You want to see it?” he asked Lalei, half hoping she’d say no. But it was like a wreck, he couldn’t resist gawking.

She looked southeast, where the hill fell away to the sea, and nodded. Jack pulled back out onto the highway and drove up and over a small rise. Then he slowed and turned out onto a scenic pullout. There was now a wide cut of fresh dirt in the outer edge where the cat tracks had gouged a trail.

He shut off the truck engine, and the two of them got out. Lalei walked with him to the edge, above the parked tractor and the stacked equipment. Her face tightened in that warrior-queen scowl. She was really something, he thought with a surge of admiration and affection. She might be slender enough to blow away in a good breeze, but she was fierce.

A sudden wind blew up, whipping the loose strands of her hair around her face and flapping Jack’s shirt flat against his torso. Jack turned, squinting into the rising wind. The puffy clouds that had been drifting along the flanks of the mountain above them were lowering, nearly writhing as they darkened and grew.

He reached for Lalei, but she had moved away, scowling down at the Caterpillar. She was stiff, her fists clenched like she was ready to attack someone. Her hair had tumbled from its moorings and was rippling about her shoulders with the wind.

“Come on, babe,” he said. “I don’t like this weather.” He put his hand on her arm and grunted at the strange feeling that arced from her skin to his palm.

A deafening barrage of thunder shook the earth around them. Jack wanted to clap his hands over his ears, but he refused to let go of Lalei.

“Come on,” he yelled, his voice barely audible. When she didn’t move, he took charge, grabbing her up in his arms and carrying her to the truck, crouched over low as if he were charging through an offensive line. “I think we’re about to have a—”

A shattering crack of sound and light cleaved the air around them. Deaf and half blinded, Jack fell to his knees, Lalei grabbing at him. Thunder boomed again and wind howled past the truck.

Feeling as if he were battling through thick, invisible ooze, Jack grabbed for the truck door handle above him. He helped Lalei up and into the truck, scrambling in after her. He couldn’t hear, could barely see. Slamming the door behind him, he fell back against the seat, panting, his limbs shaking with the burst of adrenaline.

“Whoa,” he managed. “You all right?”

Lalei launched herself into his arms, clutching at him. “Jack,” she cried, her eyes wild, her mouth trembling. “Jack, are you okay? Did I—I thought I killed you.” She clapped her hand over her mouth like a guilty child.

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