Dragon Storm (Dawn of the Dragon Queen Book 2) (18 page)

Another thunderous boom shook the walls, and it felt as if all air had been sucked out of the kitchen through a vortex. She shivered against him.

“Don’t worry, mi amor,” he cooed in her ear. “Papi and I will keep us safe.”

She placed a palm on his chest, looking up into his eyes. “I can’t help but worry, Gabriel. I worry for you, for us.”

He smiled softly, brushing a strand of wayward hair behind her ear. “There is nothing to be afraid of. It will all blow over tonight.” He looked around him as if he were seeing the room for the first time. “Where are the others?”

“Abby is lying in your bed. She’s been crying over Charlotte. I believe my father and Moses are helping your brothers move the furniture upstairs. You saw my mother and Mrs. Jenkens in the front parlor, right?”

“I did.” He slowly stood, looking lost in thought. “Did you hear that?”

Safina shook her head. “Hear what? I hear all kinds of sounds.” The house was shaking as hard as a locomotive. What did he expect her to hear?

Gabriel crossed the kitchen to his room. He pulled back the curtain and swore.

Safina was at his heels, peering around his shoulder to get a look at what had upset him. The narrow window above his bed was open, rattling as it banged against the side of the house. Safina heard a
crack
and a “
pop,
and the window came off its hinges and fell outside. The bed was empty.

Gabriel jumped on the mattress and looked outside.

Safina tried to do the same, but pulled back when her face was pelted with rain as hard as pebbles.

“Gabriel,” she cried, “Abby must have gone to Lydia’s house. What are we going to do?”

He slipped on a coat, leveling her with a stern expression. “Stay here. I’ll go get her.”

“You’re not going without me.” Safina’s friend was in trouble, and she wasn’t going to sit in the house all day doing nothing to help her. Just because she no longer had her dragon powers did not mean she had to play the role of the helpless mortal.

Gabriel frowned. “It’s dangerous out there, Safi.”

She planted both hands on her hips. “I’m not afraid. My mate is an earth speaker.”

He breathed out a huff while coursing fingers through his hair. “You put too much faith in me.”

“And you don’t put enough faith in yourself.” She eyed him coolly. “Besides, if you leave me here, I’ll follow you after you’re gone.”

L
uckily, nobody saw them slip out the back door. After Gabriel helped Safina climb down sand bags, she was shocked to land in water up to her waist. She stifled a gasp and did her best to straighten her face. She did not want Gabriel to know she was afraid.

“Are you sure about this?” he hollered into the wind.

“We’re wasting time!” she yelled back.

“I know the way to Lydia’s.” He thumbed over his shoulder. “Stay behind me.”

He turned, holding out his hands and breaking the wind like the bow of a ship cutting through water. As long as she ducked behind his shoulders, the wind wasn’t bad at all, but the water moved swiftly, wrapping her skirts around her legs and threatening to pull her under. Safina held onto Gabriel’s coattails as she pushed against the current. Debris smacked into her side so hard, she howled in pain.

When Gabriel turned to help her, she ushered him forward. “I’m fine!” she lied. She rubbed her sore hip, picturing the bruise she’d see there later.

They found Abby clutching a porch railing, sobbing as blood ran down her forehead. “Oh, Abby, you’re bleeding,” Safina cried, taking her friend in her arms.

Abby looked at her with glazed eyes while absently rubbing her matted hair. “Something hit my head.”

“This is a fool’s errand,” Gabriel yelled as he dropped his arms. Wind and rain assaulted them all. “I insist you turn back.”

Abby jutted an arm toward a two-story house in the distance. “We’re almost there. I can’t turn back now.”

“You women are going to be the death of me.” Gabriel rolled his eyes before lifting his hands to the sky. “Stay behind me!” he called, pressing forward.

* * *

Dr. Charles Straw was in a particularly bad mood that day. This bothersome storm showed no signs of blowing over, so the freighters had docked, and the trains had stopped running, leaving him stuck on this blasted island. Dr. Straw liked to consider himself a positive man, but there were a few positives to be had on this blustery day. The police had been too preoccupied with evacuations to search for the gutter slut’s killer. Not that they’d recognize him, as most everyone foolish enough to be out in this weather kept their heads down, their hands shielding their eyes from the onslaught of debris.

And speaking of evacuations, the further west he’d walked on Broadway Street, the more empty houses he found. Some of the residents had abandoned their homes so fast, he knew they hadn’t had time to gather all their valuables. “One man’s folly is another man’s fate,” as he liked to say, and he had the feeling fate was about to make him a very wealthy man.

He was just about to climb the back steps to a particularly grand Victorian when he saw a flash of crimson. He squinted against the wind and saw two women, following closely behind a man. As they headed up 48th Street toward Sealy, he thought it odd how the wind seemed to break before them. His mind must have been playing tricks on him. He recognized one of the women to be that ill-mannered Abby Jenkens. He was not a praying man, but he did send up a silent plea that a piece of slate would smack that girl in the head and knock her under the water. He could not tell if the other woman was the healer or her daughter, though he assumed it mattered little. She was a long way from home, and with the deafening noise from the howling wind, they would never hear him sneaking up behind them.

* * *

Duncan raced down the stairs two at a time, bursting through the front parlor and into the kitchen. He checked Gabriel’s bedroom and ran back into the parlor. Fiona, Moses, and Mrs. Jenkens were sitting nervously on the sofa, watching as the old man held his arms out to the storm. Amazingly, wind and water broke before him as if he’d created an invisible dam around the house.

But just knowing that Safina had left the safety of the house to brave what was out there made Duncan’s knees weaken. He fell against the wall, struggling to stay strong when his whole world threatened to be swept away into the abyss. Where had she gone, and why?

“Where is she?” he rasped, panting as he clutched the doorframe.

Fiona released Mrs. Jenkens’s hand and slowly stood, looking at Duncan as if she’d seen a spirit. “Who?”

“Safina!” he cried.

Fiona pointed to the door behind them with a shaky hand. “She is in the kitchen with Gabriel.”

Duncan shook his head. “She’s not there, and I do not feel her nearby.”

Fiona rushed past him and into the kitchen. “Safina!”

Her frantic footsteps echoed through the house and then she raced back into the parlor. She looked at Duncan with a wild-eyed expression, reminding him of a wounded animal caught in a snare. “Abby and Gabriel are gone, too.”

Mrs. Jenkens screamed and fell back against the sofa. “Where’s my Abby? Oh, heavens, she will drown!”

By this time, Gabriel’s brothers had come downstairs. They were looking at the rest of them with alarm in their eyes.

Gabriel’s older brother, a tall young man with a bushy moustache, stepped forward, holding out his palms. “Calm down, everyone. They are with Gabriel.”

Moses held Mrs. Jenkens, fanning her face while she moaned, rocking her head back and forth.

“Oh, my Abby!” She flung her arm across her brow. “Where could she have gone?”

Fiona’s back stiffened as understanding dawned in her eyes. “To Lydia’s.” She looked at Duncan. “Can you find her?”

He closed his eyes and channeled a vision of his sweet Safina, cursing under his breath when he saw her fighting a current higher than her waist.

“Aye,” he growled, for he also saw Gabriel in front of her. What kind of fool would subject his mate to such danger?

Fiona tugged his sleeve. “Then lead the way.”

Mrs. Jenkens shot up, the flaccid flesh on her face falling like a tumbling house of cards as she frowned. “The storm’s too rough. You’ll never make it.”

“You underestimate me, Mrs. Jenkens.” Duncan boomed as he clenched his hands with hardened resolve. “There isn’t a force of nature strong enough to keep me from finding my daughter.”

* * *

When they reached Lydia’s house, Abby fought her cumbersome skirts to push ahead of Gabriel while shielding her face from the onslaught of rain. She climbed inside one of Lydia’s mother’s raised flowerbeds and grabbed Gabriel’s hand as he pulled Safina with him. A horse whinnied and stomped through the water, pulling a wagon as it slowly moved past Abby.

The wheels were nearly completely submerged, and Abby feared the cart wouldn’t make it. She was filled with dread to see Lydia’s family in the wagon. Why had they waited so long to evacuate? She counted six heads: Lydia, Irene, Lydia’s younger brothers, and her mother and father. But where was Charlotte? Abby prayed she’d already gone home.

“Lydia!” she screamed, waving wildly.

Lydia’s father kept his head down, holding tightly to the reins and not bothering to slow as he urged the horse forward.

“Abby,” Lydia yelled from the back of the wagon, “what are you doing here?”

Abby cupped her hands around her mouth and called back. “Where is Charlotte?”

“Inside!” Lydia pointed to the house they’d just evacuated. Already, the current had ripped the stairs from the porch. “We’re moving to higher ground. She refused to leave. Papa says we must go.”

“You would just leave her here?” Abby screamed, but as the cart moved farther down the road, she doubted they heard her.

A gust nearly knocked Abby backward. She would have fallen if Gabriel hadn’t caught her elbow. He held out his hands, and amazingly, the storm seemed to circumvent them. Lydia’s family wasn’t so lucky. Flying debris battered the wagon. Lydia and her family screamed as Irene toppled out of the back of the wagon and into the raging water. Irene didn’t make a sound as she went under, a trail of crimson following her floating fingertips with the current, and then she disappeared completely. Lydia’s father looked over his shoulder once but pressed the horse forward.

Abby’s stomach twisted and roiled as she scanned the water for Irene, but it was so murky and littered with debris, she could see no sign of her.

Gabriel stepped forward, looking ready to dive in.

Safina grabbed his waist, jerking him back. “We can’t do anything for her!” she hollered. “We need to save Charlotte before the house goes.”

Gabriel helped Abby and Safina climb to the porch. Chests heaving, they tumbled inside the house. Gabriel fought to shut the door and then fell against it, mopping his brow.

“Charlotte!” Abby called as she moved through the hall. Her skirt puddled the floor, but she didn’t care. Soon the house would be lost to the flood.

She found Charlotte in the kitchen, sobbing as she hunched over the table, clutching her round stomach. The howling winds shook the house so violently, Abby feared the structure would fall apart at any moment.

Abby fell to her knees, grasping her friend’s hands. “Charlotte, what are you still doing here?”

She sat up and gasped. “Abby? Is it you, or am I dreaming?”

“It’s me, dearest.” Abby motioned to her friends, who’d followed her. “Safi and Gabriel have come to help. Are you all right?”

Charlotte’s lower lip trembled as fresh tears sprang from her eyes. “Oh, Abby, they left me! They wouldn’t wait with me.” She waved at the back door before leaning toward Abby, squeezing her hands tight. “I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you. I’m so very sorry.”

Abby patted Charlotte’s knee and abruptly stood. “There’s no time for apologies. We need to get you out of this house now.”

Charlotte’s mouth fell open. “But I can’t leave. Teddy is coming for me. He won’t know where I’ve gone.”

Abby did her best to keep an impassive face, but if Teddy hadn’t come for Charlotte by now, he was not coming. She didn’t want to think of what had happened to him, for she knew he’d never willingly abandon his wife and unborn child. She straightened her shoulders and did her best to put images of Teddy drowning out of her mind. Charlotte needed her to be strong.

Abby sucked in a hiss when she saw water rush in under the doorway. “This house and everything in it is going to wash away. Believe me, Charlotte, Teddy would not want you to stay. You have to leave now,” she pleaded.

Charlotte grabbed the table, pulling herself up. “All right.”

“Time to go!” Gabriel boomed before latching onto Charlotte’s elbow and pulling her behind him.

Abby followed on limbs that were numb with fear. If the water had reached the floor, that meant the flood was at least chest high. How were they supposed to cross the torrent?

Gabriel opened the front door, and it flew out of his hand, slamming against the wall with a
crack
. The wind barreled through the house, knocking Abby and Safina against the back wall.

“Gabriel!” Safina yelled as water rushed into the house. “It’s too high. We’ll never cross.”

Gabriel bit his lower lip and stared at the water. “Let me try. I think I can push it back!”

“Push it back?” Abby asked, but nobody paid her any heed.

Gabriel delivered Charlotte into Abby’s arms and then faced the onslaught of wind head-on. He sliced the air with his hands, as if he were a conductor leading an orchestra. Abby watched with fascination as the wind and water retreated out the door.

“How did you do that?” Abby rasped.

But he didn’t answer. He kept walking forward, hands outstretched as if he were pushing on an invisible barrier.

Abby shot Safina a look, and Safina answered with a knowing smile.

“Do you believe in magic?” Safina asked.

Abby swallowed hard. Water continued to move back from his feet. “I do now,” she said.

Just as Gabriel reached the threshold, a shadow moved past the doorway. Gabriel staggered, clutching his stomach and falling to the floor. The water rushed back into the room.