Page 34 of Topaz

“Give me a sec, I’ve been legit too damn long.”

“Don’t care, how good are your detonation skills?”

Topaz poked her head up over the dashboard right as the handle to the cabin moved.

Onyx’s heart stopped. His eyes bracing for the explosion, praying in a way it would never come. The boom instantly made his ears ring as fire shot up in the air and he leaned down, covering Topaz with his body as they both were now tucked practically to the floorboards. The sound of bits of wood and metal bouncing off the truck. The shower from the cabin coming back to earth had him squeezing the best he could to her.

Damn, she was tiny. Curled up under the steering wheel, the cab of the truck warming as the flames wrapped around for a quick flash, then disappeared. A heavy thud on the bed of the truck caused it to bounce as they both sat, motionless until the only debris were small bits dinging on the outside of the truck.

“So, you wanna see if the keys are out there?” she joked.

He let out a roar of laughter then sitting up in the truck, he buried his head in his hands. Pressed his palms to his face and allowed the emotions, the stress of it all go like a sheet broke free of a drying line on a windy day. Floating as the immediate threat disappeared and the two of them sat side by side in the cab of the truck while staring at their former prison. Charred wood outlined the base of the cabin with only the tilted over fireplace to mark that anyone had been there.

Glen and Stimpy were gone, parts littering the grass, no longer able to see who belonged to what as Topaz and Onyx were froze. Taking in the sight of the demolished cabin. For Onyx, the vision was one he’d seen before in a way. The narrow escape. A little damage, but so much worse could have happened. Twice now, he’d escaped death at the hands of men who hated him for existing. The reality of this made him sober and recognize they needed to go. “Topaz,” he said right as the engine turned over.

She pressed the gas with her hand then sliding back in the seat, she reached underneath and lifted the adjustment bar. With a hard yank, she pulled the seat forward and his knees slammed into the glovebox. Her eyes wide she turned to him.

Onyx bit his lips to tamp down the hot poker of pain shooting up his left thigh to his hip. Setting off nerves that constricted the muscles in his back as he slammed his head into the headrest and stared at the roof of the cab, not wanting to complain.

“Here you drive,” she said adjusting the bench seat all the way to the back and jumping out.

An ash snowfall still falling from the sky softened his rage as she made her way to the passenger side and he slid across the seat. The glow of the headlights creating an almost fairylike scene in front of him.

Meekly, she got in the cab of the truck and turned to him. “I could have drove,” she said. “But you clearly have had enough stimulus as a sub today.”

“That mean you’re gonna do my after care,” he replied, putting the truck in drive and turning it around, so it was on the grass path like road leading away from the place.

In the rearview, the smoldering cabin was already showing signs of going out when the clouds opened up and rain fell as if God himself had tipped over a bucket. Flipping on the wipers, Onyx made his way to a dirt road and prayed he’d made the right choice when turning left.

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