Page 42 of Cheyenne

Micah liked that she was thinking about them being together, because he was pretty much consumed by it. “How many teeth do you lose, exactly?”

She shoved his shoulder. “Just so you know,” she said with a bit of feistiness in her tone, “that kind of dream means you are striving to succeed at something. It’s a common dream.” She pulled her phone out and tapped away. “Let’s see what a zombie dream means.”

Micah stayed quiet, his focus on the road, while she searched.

A minute later, she said, “It could mean one, fear of losing control; two, feeling overwhelmed; three, change or transformation; four, fear of loss; or five, unresolved emotions.”

He laughed; she sounded like an encyclopedia.

She gave him a knowing look. “That makes sense. You’re about to become a SEAL. Maybe you’re feeling all of these?”

“Yeah, I’m sure it’s just about becoming a SEAL. Definitely not about this girl who’s just come into my life or anything.”

“Oh.” She paused as if realizing that for the first time. “I guess.”

There was an awkward silence.

Micah took her hand again and squeezed. “We’re just working through this one day at a time. Right? And the next thing we have to focus on is breaking back into that crypt. So let’s focus on that first.”

She smiled. “Deal.”

They arrivedat the church and decided to park on the side closer to the cemetery. “I think we should try to go through the grave and not through the church,” Micah said. “That priest might remember us.”

Cheyenne nodded. “Good idea.” She linked her hand with his as they walked toward the cemetery.

He kept his voice low. “I think I can move the lid on that grave and we can sneak back in.”

“I like it. It doesn’t seem like there’s anyone here. Should we just make a dash for that grave?”

He nodded, and they ran toward it.

When they got to the grave, Micah started pushing it. Cheyenne helped him, and before long, they had the entrance cracked open.

He looked down into the darkness, buzzing with anticipation. “I’ll go down there and put it back. You wait here and be the lookout.”

Her face scrunched up. “I’m not letting you do this by yourself.”

He shook his head and started to climb down. “We don’t need two people to do this. You stay.”

She balked but backed down. “Fine.”

CHAPTER 20

Cheyenne

Cheyenne watched him descend into the darkness and shivered despite the warm sun. She didn’t like this. If only she had never taken that stupid amulet.

A man and woman walked into the cemetery. It looked like they were heading in her direction. They stopped at a grave nearby. Cheyenne glanced back at the grave. It would probably look suspicious if she was caught standing next to it while it was open like this. She casually leaned into it, pushing hard. It barely shifted but made a loud grinding noise.

The lady glanced at her.

Cheyenne quickly turned away. Maybe they wouldn’t notice.

She pulled out her phone and looked at the time. It was just past one-thirty. Why hadn’t she looked at the time when he’d gone in there? She walked around the headstone and glanced at the people who were still at the nearby grave. Dang it. She and Micah hadn’t even talked about what she should do to warn him that people were watching.

A few long, painful minutes went by, and she wondered if she should just go in after him. The priest from before stepped out of the church, walking across the cemetery with another groupof people. She put her back to him, heart racing. Why hadn’t she worn a hoodie? Where was Micah?

“Why is this grave open?” a voice said from behind her.

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