Thunder Road (Rain Chaser Book 1)

by Sierra Dean

  That would suck.

  Instead, I walked on, and the world began to achieve texture and depth. The darkness gained shades and highlights. Things took form.

  Trees lined a path, and stones pebbled the road beneath my feet. The landscape had a familiarity to it without being actually familiar.

  Finally, Leo appeared ahead of me, standing at a crossroads in the path.

  A five-pointed crossroads.

  I came to stand next to him, taking his hand without thinking and holding it tight. “You didn’t look.”

  His jaw had a grim set, and he said nothing, just stared straight ahead. But he squeezed my fingers, and that was enough. Whatever psychological trickery I’d encountered in the abyss, I hadn’t been the only one.

  We’d both come through the other side, though.

  Hecate was waiting in the center of the road, wearing her woman’s face as she greeted us. “We meet again.” The greeting could have applied to either Leo or me. Neither of us responded.

  I glanced at the paths around me, and then asked, “So which one is this?”

  Hecate’s smile broadened, and she tilted her head to give me a glimpse of the hag. “Which do you think it is?”

  I wasn’t in the mood for games, but I played along, hoping to expedite our deliverance. “Well, we’re here. So I’m going to guess it’s the path of the wise.”

  This made her chuckle, and she stepped to the side, giving us an unencumbered view of the night road. “You’re here, yes. But your journey isn’t done. You have both been at this crossroads before. And you both turned back.”

  Leo glanced at me then, and his expression was in between awe and exhaustion. I shared his concern.

  Nothing in this trip was going to come easily, was it?

  “And?” I asked, knowing there was another shoe, and it was about to drop.

  “You cannot take that path again. One does not walk away from the crossroads a second time.”

  The hope that had guided me here cracked, turning from a glowing light into a thousand little fireflies, threatening to fly away from me at a moment’s notice.

  “You can’t be serious. How are we supposed to get back if not by the night road?”

  Hecate angled her face coyly to show the maiden. Round cheeks curved up in a grin that almost managed to convincingly convey innocence. Except I wasn’t dumb enough to buy it.

  “You dig.”

  Leo groaned audibly. “Come on.”

  The woman face snapped forward, now deadly serious. “Did you think you’d just walk out? As if this was a play you no longer wanted to watch? No. If you want to live, you will prove you want to live. Now you will dig, or you can turn around and go back the way you came.”

  Her anger was so sudden and fierce it took me by surprise. Leo, too, didn’t seem to know how to respond. Instead of fighting it any further, I dropped to my knees in the center of the crossroads and dug my fingers into the ground.

  Though it looked firm and had felt hard beneath my feet, it yielded easily to me now. Large clumps fell away as if it were nothing more than cake, crumbling beneath my fingers. I continued to dig, spurred on by my need to find whatever was waiting for me on the other side. Soon Leo was kneeling beside me, and with his large hands to help, the ground fell away beneath us, and I could no longer see Hecate or the night road.

  We dug and dug until the dirt started to tumble down around us, on top of us, burying any hope of an exit. The weight of it pushed down on both of us, filling in the space we’d made until it was a struggle to move our hands for another scoop.

  Soon we weren’t digging so much as we were burrowing.

  Dirt flooded around me, and I lost sight of Leo, lost sight of anything but the moist, dark earth that tried to force its way into my mouth and nose. I closed my eyes and continued to fight against it, clawing forward until I was sure all my nails were broken and the breath in my one good lung was about to be crushed out of me.

  Every part of my body said this was hopeless, that I was struggling in vain, but my mind didn’t agree. My brain made its demands, and my limbs had no choice but to follow orders. So we dug.

  And dug.

  And just when I felt absolutely certain I had dug my own grave, my fingers passed through something solid and hit cold, fresh air. A breeze tickled my skin, and I almost cried out in relief but didn’t dare for all the dirt trying to drown me.

  I clawed at solid ground and pulled myself forward. Only when the night air was on my face did I gasp for breath. I drank it in by the lungful, desperate for it, not caring how badly each inhale hurt, because I was actually able to breathe, and the pain was a worthwhile tradeoff without a doubt.

  I wormed my way out of the earth, swiping dirt from my eyes and shaking it off me as I dragged my lower body from the hole I’d made.

  A few feet away a rough gasp drew my attention, and Leo emerged in a similar fashion, fighting his way out, his breaths raspy and quick.

  It took a moment for me to realize where we’d come up.

  The hundred or so corpses lying around us were the big tip-off.

  Crumbling two-hundred-year-old tombs helped complete the perfect picture of a Louisiana graveyard.

  I staggered to my feet and went to help Leo out of his would-be grave. If I looked anywhere near as terrible as he did, coated in dirt and blood and sweat, we must have made quite a pair. He glanced around, and once his breath was back, he said, “We did it?” as if he wasn’t entirely sure.

  I nodded slowly, patting him on the arm. “We did.”

  “So…you won the bet.”

  Stupid Hades and his bet. I had been so focused on getting us through this I’d forgotten what the stakes had been. A tiny peep of relief escaped my mouth. “I did.”

  I hadn’t managed to get Leo to the safety of Seth’s temple, but I’d done one better by lifting the death order Manea had on us both. She might not like it, but for the second time in a week I’d won a bet and taken something she wanted in the process.

  I wasn’t foolish enough to believe she’d forgive and forget, but for the time being I felt relatively sure that Leo and I were safe.

  “Tallulah?” The new voice was rough, stern, and made my heart swell so big I thought I might pass out on the spot.

  Leo gave me a knowing smirk. “Should have known that kiss was just a matter of life and death. You sure never get that look on your face when I say your name.”

  The kiss.

  I’d all but forgotten it, which seemed impossible given how literally electric it had been. “Leo, I…” How could I explain without sounding like I’d used him?

  He waved a hand at me. “If you apologize, I’ll have to punch you, and I’ve never punched a lady before. You’re a good kisser, Tallulah, but you are way more trouble than it’s worth. The bad-luck priest is used to trouble. I don’t need any extra, thank you.” He grinned broadly, his teeth shockingly white against his dirt-smeared face, then he pulled me in for a tight hug. His bulk knocked the wind out of my good lung, but it was nice to be hugged for something positive.

  When he released me, Cade was standing a few feet back, staring at us with raw disbelief.

  “What the fuck?” He came over to me, cupping my cheeks in his hands. “You fell through the street. I thought you were dead.” His dark eyes scanned my face frantically, as if he still wasn’t convinced I was really here.

  “I’m going to see if that outlet temple has a phone,” Leo wheezed. “I think there’s an overnight stay in a hospital in that one’s immediate future. And maybe mine.”

  I barely heard him I was so focused on Cade.

  “I’m not dead,” I whispered.

  I’d never tell him how close I’d come to that being a lie. It didn’t matter now. I was here, not there, and he was here. My hope had not betrayed me.

  “You just crawled out of a grave,” Cade said.

  I tried to smile but only managed a half-smirk. “I know.”

  His fingertips danced
over my skin, gently brushing away dirt and pushing hair away from my eyes. “I thought…” His voice trailed away, but his agonized expression told me precisely what he’d thought.

  “Please. Like I was going to die before I got to kiss you again? Not a chance.”

  Cade let out a choked laugh and held my face gently before lowering his mouth to mine. His lips were so soft, and his mouth so sweet, I thought perhaps I was dead and this was my reward for a life of obedience.

  Then I remembered I wasn’t terribly obedient.

  He pulled me in tight, deepening the kiss, and I basked in the glow of it, glorying in how very alive it made me feel. His mouth, his touch, his taste, it was all marked with life, and it was so perfect I wanted to cry.

  My lung shrieked its protest, no longer able to give me the reprieve I needed for further smooching.

  I coughed, breaking free of his kiss, and continued to cough.

  “Don’t you go dying on me now. That would be so me, kissing a girl to death.”

  This, of course, made me laugh, which only made the coughing worse.

  Cade propped me up, and in spite of how disastrous I must have looked, he was staring at me like I was a priceless work of art whose meaning he meant to decode through sheer concentration.

  When I finally got enough breath back to speak, I scolded him. “You’re going to be such bad luck for me, you know that?”

  “Well, yeah. That’s sort of my thing.”

  I forced a smile in spite of the pain. Overhead, the clouds had begun to gather, purple-hued from the early-morning light and threatening rain. It appeared we’d been gone the whole night, and now Seth was on his way.

  He couldn’t have shown up like twelve hours earlier?

  Cade helped me towards the entrance of the cemetery, where the hole Leo and I had been swallowed through was sealed, the street as unblemished as it had been last night.

  I sat down on the curb, holding my side, thinking of what I’d just done and all that was still left to do.

  I’d saved Leo, but in the process I had damned Sunny. Charon’s eternal memory wasn’t likely to forget what I’d promised him any time soon. Nor was Manea going to be in any rush to forgive me for besting her yet again.

  Cade sat down next to me, and I rested my head against his shoulder, listening as the sound of ambulance sirens wailed closer and closer. Guess Leo had found that phone after all.

  Thunder rumbled, and the sidewalk began to sprout leopard spots where huge, fat drops of rain fell around us. Soon the storm god would be reunited with his son, and my job here would be finished.

  If I could go another year or so without seeing this town, I’d be all too happy.

  “What do you know about getting out of verbal contracts with immortals?” I asked him.

  “You can’t,” he replied.

  I was worried he was going to say that.

  “Just so you know, being around me is about to get really complicated.”

  He leaned back so I was able to see his face. “Tallulah, being around you was always going to be complicated. Are you about to get me in more trouble?”

  I smirked. “Probably. Once I uncollapse my lung. But I can get into trouble all on my own, if you want out.”

  “Out? I don’t think so. You still owe me dinner.” He pressed a kiss on my temple. “And a new car.”

  All the talking was taking its toll, making me woozy. Lightning flashed across the sky as the ambulance pulled up in front of us. The paramedics got out, and one jogged towards me while the other opened the back doors of the rig.

  “I’ll get you that new car, if you help me defy a god,” I told him as the paramedic knelt beside me, rattling off a slew of questions while checking my pulse. I barely registered what she was saying, my attention was so transfixed on whatever Cade said next.

  “You’ve got yourself a date.”

  Thanks for reading Thunder Road! I hope you enjoyed Tallulah’s first adventure, it won’t be her last.

  · Want to stay in the loop about my upcoming releases? You can sign up for my email newsletter at www.sierradean.com, I’m on Twitter at @sierradean, or stop by my Facebook page at http://facebook.com/SierraDeanAuthor.

  · If you liked this book (or even if you didn’t), please consider leaving a review!

  · Think a friend would enjoy Thunder Road? It’s lendable through the Kindle lending library, so share it with a friend!

  · Can’t wait to start another Sierra Dean book? Keep reading for a sample chapter of Bayou Blues, and get caught up on Genie’s story before Black Magic Bayou releases this fall.

  Bayou Blues – Genie McQueen Book 1

  When your sister has saved the world, you have a lot to live up to.

  Genie McQueen thought she’d seen it all after helping her big sister Secret stop the Apocalypse. The dead walked, New York City burned, and things nearly went to hell in a hand basket. After it was all over, the world knew about vampires and werewolves, and Genie’s life would never be the same.

  But now, three years later, someone doesn’t want werewolves or any supernatural creatures to live alongside humans. A new anti-werewolf church with a charismatic leader and a cult-like following has declared open season on Genie’s whole species. When a member of her pack is kidnapped, she decides it’s time to stop going with the flow and to step up and fight for her people.

  Tagging along for the ride is a handsome troublemaker, Wilder Shaw, a pack outsider who just wants to save his brother, but will leave Genie’s head spinning in the process.

  Equally troubling are the ghosts of her past she can’t quite shake, the nightmarish figures who haunt her even when she’s wide awake, and a dark magic inside her she hasn’t yet learned to tame.

  Things are about to get messy in the bayou.

  Chapter One

  Hunt.

  Hard earth sped by beneath my feet, but I barely felt it. The exhilaration of running made it seem as if I were flying, and there was nothing under me but wind and joy. The night air was alive with scents, and while the scenery blurred past me too fast to see, I was picking up the story of my environment with every inhale.

  The pungent smell of algae, still warm from baking in the day’s sun, gave the air a dank, swampy odor, which made me feel like I was home. It also gave me a good indication of where the land ended and the water began.

  There was nothing for me near the water’s edge. Most of the animals in the trees were fair game: small rodents, rabbits and other easy prey. Sometimes I’d find a real challenge and get to stalk a deer through the spongy bog. But where the moss and peat gave way to proper swamp and land became water, I was hesitant to get too close.

  I was not the scariest thing out for blood during the full moon.

  Once—and only once—I’d crossed paths with an alligator who mistook me for an easy meal. Werewolf versus alligator might sound like a kickass premise for a bad Syfy channel monster movie, but in my case it had been one of the worst nights of my life. If not for my heightened healing ability, I would still have some nasty scars to brag about.

  But you should have seen the other guy.

  That particular fight was not something I had any desire to repeat, no matter how badass the story made me sound. Just thinking about it made my heart beat a little faster. So, in spite of the water’s edge being an ideal place to catch easy prey unaware, it also put me at too great a risk. Instead I stuck to the trees, avoiding the swamp and the hiking trails as well. At this time of night the area was mostly clear of humans, but I didn’t like to take chances.

  Boldness wasn’t my problem—I had it in spades these days—but I preferred to be smart rather than to tempt fate. Foolhardy was just another way to say stupid.

  Leave it to me to still be a goody two-shoes while I was covered in fur. Some habits were hard to break no matter what form I took.

  Hunt.

  My wolf urged me forward, driving me on at a breakneck pace. I’d caught a whiff of rabbit, and now my singula
r mission was to sink my teeth into it. The frenzied patter of its heart sent out vibrations I could feel, singing a perfect ode to my hunger. Feed feed feed. My mouth watered, and I bared my teeth, though there wasn’t an animal in sight for me to menace. The wolf was desperate for the kill, and she and I were of one mind on the subject.

  Once I’d learned to yield to the wolf within, I was able to turn off the magical part of my brain and simply be the wolf. Like most werewolves, I was thirteen when I first started shifting. The same age young hereditary witches came into their power, something most wolves didn’t have to consider. Unluckily for me, I’d inherited both gifts, leaving my magic and my wolf to collide in a disastrous and literally explosive way. That was how I came to spend my formative years getting to know the ins and outs of a swamp very well.

  Now I was older, a little wiser, and definitely had a better handle on my magic.

  I skidded to an abrupt stop, nails digging into the damp ground. Sniffing the air, I parsed the layers of scent, dismissing the bog water and night breeze until the only thing remaining was fear. Sweet, delicious fear. It smelled like dying flowers and fresh blood.

  Movement low to the ground caught my attention, and I went rigid, ears upright, listening intently. There. I could practically feel the creature’s heartbeat in my mouth.

  I crouched low, my whole body coiled like a spring as I moved closer inch by inch to where the nervous rabbit lay in wait, thinking it was hidden from me. One moment it was frozen, the next it bolted, and I went after it, pouncing before it had a chance to hide again. My teeth pierced its neck, and there was a brief glorious moment where I could taste every ounce of its fear, then it went limp.

  The hunt was over.

  I ate quickly, the flavor less satisfying now that the fear was gone, but the meat was delicious and reinvigorated me for the run back. Night was coming to an end, and when the sun rose, I didn’t want to be isolated in the middle of the swamp. My wolf might have a good natural sense of direction, but not all my supernatural abilities translated from my animal form to my human one. I set off running again, zigzagging my way through the woods, still avoiding the edge of the water. It felt good to burn off my energy, bringing myself back to nature and the place where I had been at home for so long.