The Rule of One (The Rule of One #1) by Ashley Saunders & Leslie Saunders

Author:Ashley Saunders & Leslie Saunders [Saunders, Ashley & Saunders, Leslie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503953161
Google: uPRzswEACAAJ
Goodreads: 36604955
Publisher: Skyscape
Published: 2018-10-14T23:00:00+00:00

AVA

When I first laid eyes on Dorothy, Kipling’s ill-favored baby-blue pickup truck, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of admiration. The rusty old thing looks like it’s been blessed with the luck of a cat clinging to its nine lives. Various pieces—the solar-paneled roof, doors, truck bed, everything—clearly originate from different sources. The truck’s been torn apart by God knows what and welded back together so many times, yet somehow she still continues to purr as she carries us valiantly across the Texas desert.

I wish I could put myself back together so easily.

A hot rush of panic suddenly threatens to take over my body. Wedged tight in the single cab seat between Mira and Kipling, I squeeze my knees together and count the insects that hurtle to their death against the windshield. Five . . . eight . . . ten . . .

I remember the symptoms of an oncoming panic attack from my studies at school. Sweating, chest pain, heart palpitations, nausea, and shortness of breath can all mimic a heart attack. I try to take deep calming breaths, but I can’t. It’s like those hostile hands are trapped inside my lungs, suffocating me. I’m overwhelmed with the fear I’ll never be able to breathe without the touch of those calloused hands again.

A dead man’s hands.

Sixteen . . . twenty . . .

I turn my focus away from the suicidal bugs when Kipling begins to softly sing aloud. His voice is full of heartache and twang and works as a balm against my secret red-hot wounds.

Look at our photograph of’en,

the one from the night we firs’ became lovers.

Keep it in the pocket ’gainst yer chest,

so it can seep into yer wounded heart.

Lemme dance there from time t’ time,

’cause I still remember how nothin’ mattered

when you had yer arms wrapped round me.

I promise t’ make it a slow one.

Underneath his worn ten-gallon hat and rugged exterior, a playful smile tugs at Kipling’s eyes, like he can see something in the distance that is hidden from me.

“Where exactly are you taking us?” I ask.

Mira shifts her gaze from the barren desert floor that races past the window to the maverick cowboy at the wheel. I note how much only three days on the road have hardened her. All the innate softness in her nature is now buried somewhere deep inside or gone forever.

Kipling lifts his right shoulder in a shrug, and his smile spreads from his eyes to his lips.

“Well, it ain’t exactly on a map.”

Mira and I exchange a sidelong glance just as the shabby truck veers wildly off road and into the open desert, our bodies slamming hard into the passenger window.

“That’s why you wear your seat belts,” Kipling says, chuckling to himself.

I wish I shared his humor.

All at once the flat land drops into a massive canyon, and my mouth falls open in wonder.

Wind, water, and time have painted perfect layers of red, white, and soft pinks into the ancient rock. The sheer canyon walls plummet hundreds of feet to the valley floor, dazzling me with nature’s vitality.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.