Page 23 of A Sea of Secrets
“Mess with him later,” I told them. “Get down here! We need to cover as much ground as possible before the next weather incident.” Not waiting for a reply, I took the lead again, limping hard now. The ground trembled slightly behind me, and I glanced back to see Kayden had joined us.
Zane whispered “Kitty Kayden” under his breath as I resumed limping away, which must have earned him a punch because a howl followed quickly after.
Lightning, earthquakes, monsoons... I tried to think of what else to expect.
Extreme temperatures.
Volcanic eruptions.
Tsunamis.
Wind whirled through the room, blowing debris and rattling the shells in Zane’s hair.
“Tornado!” I shouted, freezing on the spot, my mind racing as I searched the area around us.
I had no idea where to go, just that being out in the open would mean I’d be in the tornado’s firing line.
“This way!” Kayden shouted.
I looked over to see him waving us in his direction. He was running towards the darkened hole where all the water had flowed.
“Are you sure?” I called back, though I made my way towards him. My run was more like some kind of monstrous hobble. This seemed like a bad idea, but I had no other options, and he seemed confident enough for me to trust him.
“We need to get low!” Kayden ordered as I tripped to a halt at the edge of the fissure just after Ace and Zane. “Move your asses now and follow me.”
He crouched, then lowered himself into the hole, his feet finding purchase on the rocks sticking out of the walls. The wind was picking up speed around us, making me more unsteady on my feet. I braced myself as best I could, fear filling my gut as I watched Kayden slide himself into the gap beneath the floorboards and the ground, right into the crawlspace.
“He swims like a cat in a bathtub too,” Zane stated with a grin before following Kayden, his long blond hair wild around his face. “Here, kitty, kitty.”
Swallowing hard, I slowly lowered myself over the edge, my arms straining as I clung to the broken boards. Ace gripped my wrists, holding me as my feet desperately searched for purchase.
“You alright?” he asked, the wind whirling through his dark hair.
“Never better,” I replied. My palms became sweaty, my heart hammering in my chest as I tried and failed to find somewhere for my feet.
Kayden appeared at chest level, peeking his head out from the crawlspace as he reached out and grabbed my waist.
“You got under the room’s foundations and turned your body around?” I hissed, amazed that Kayden was able to manoeuvre his huge form in such a small space. “Not sure I can entirely disagree with Zane’s current nickname for you.”
“I can drop you if you prefer?” he replied with a grin. “Let go.”
I nodded to Ace, and he released me. My gut felt like it was going to fall out of my ass as Kayden took my weight.
“Cats fit in the smallest places,” Zane shouted over the rising sound of destruction, shuffling on his belly closer to Kayden. “It's a whole thing on the internet.”
Kayden growled as he hauled me into the crawlspace, and I clambered in on his other side. Broken pipes and debris littered the dirt and the drenched bodies of dead Potentials lay scattered along a tunnel that descended underground.
Ace was quick to join us and soon we were cramped together beneath the ballroom hardwood floor. Kayden shouted something at Zane but I couldn't hear over the roar above, and I doubted Zane could either. The floorboards above us rattled and groaned loudly, the sound of the wind howling and mixing with the destruction over our heads.
Like the lightning and rain, the tornado lasted all of a few minutes, its violent winds wreaking havoc above. Finally, the winds died down and the world became quiet.
At least momentarily.
“So, you know a thing or two about tornadoes?” Zane asked Kayden. I could see the merman lying with his head on the side, an arm tucked beneath it like he was relaxing on a beach somewhere.
“They’re cool.” He shrugged, or at least attempted to. “There are a lot of interesting docos on them. We also get sandstorms in the desert, which are different but still terrifying if you’re not prepared.”
“This is getting too chummy for my liking,” Ace declared, shuffling out first. Once above he called an all-clear and we followed him to the surface.
