Page 69 of Praying for Rain

“Why are you staring at me like that?” she asks, looking up at me through her long, dark lashes.

“Because I fucking love you.”

The smile on her face lights up the dark room. It’s the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen, and I suddenly can’t wait for whatever is coming to get here so that I can kill it and turn its teeth into jewelry for her to wear.

Especially when another crash makes her gasp and cover that beautiful smile with both hands.

We look back outside as lights illuminate the highway. The overturned Corolla to the right of the driveway begins to lurch and move, scraping across the asphalt as Rain’s eyes lift to mine.

“Listen to me.” I cup her face in my hands, stealing her attention. Commanding it. “The horsemen aren’t real. Do you hear me? Whatever that is, people are behind it. People who are gonna fucking die if they try to hurt a hair on your head.”

Rain nods as the lurching sedan at the end of her driveway rolls sideways and takes out her mailbox. We both turn at the same time, watching as the force behind the shove comes into view.

“Is that a—”

“Bulldozer!” Rain takes off like a shot.

I grab my flashlight and take off after her, but by the time I make it downstairs, the front door is already wide open.

“Fuck! Rain, stop!”

I don’t catch up to her until she’s almost at the end of her driveway, jumping up and down and waving her arms. The bulldozer slows down as I dart in front of her, shoving her behind my back and grabbing the revolver under my arm.

“Well, got-damn!” a voice shouts from the cabin of the idling machine.

I shine my flashlight toward it and find Quinton and Lamar—the brothers from the hardware store—shielding their eyes from the beam.

I lower the light but keep my hand on my gun.

“You got it working!” Rain yells, jumping up and down behind me.

“I told y’all we weren’t gonna get no damn flat!” Lamar shouts over the snarling engine.

“Finally got the damn thing up and runnin’,” Quinton adds, “and none too soon. Rednecks in town done lost their damn minds.”

“We’re getting the fuck outta here,” Lamar adds. “Y’all comin’?”

“Yes!” Rain shouts, peeking out from around my arm.

Quinton gives her a little salute, and I don’t know if I want to blow his head off for looking at her like that or pat him on the back for making her so damn happy. Personally, I don’t give a shit if we stay or go. As long as Rain is with me, we could live in a hollowed-out tree for all I fucking care. Supplies, shelter, self-defense—those are just icing on the vanilla-flavored cake now.

“We’ll be right behind ya.” I holster my gun and give the guys a nod.

I don’t trust them—I don’t trust anybody with a dick around my girl—but the survivor in me recognizes a good resource when it sees one.

I follow Rain as she tears back into the house, flying through the kitchen and into the garage. I shine the light ahead of me as I step into the musty, humid space and find a very excited Rain standing next to a very badass Kawasaki Ninja.

“Do you know how to drive it?” she asks, the contents of her backpack jostling with every bounce. “My mom never taught me.”

“Fuck yeah, I do.” I grin.

Rain runs over to the wall and grabs the keys off a hook while I shine the light above us, finding the emergency release latch for the garage door. I pull the red handle and then walk over and shove the heavy-ass door all the way up. The scraping and crashing of Quinton and Lamar’s bulldozer clearing the highway fills the garage, but it doesn’t sound like hell anymore.

To Rain, it sounds like heaven.

When I turn around, she’s watching me, holding a black helmet and grinning with that wild, impulsive look in her eye. That look usually ends with me almost getting killed trying to save her ass, but I don’t mind anymore. In fact, I have a feeling that’s why I’m here.

Rain holds the helmet out to me, so I take it.

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