31. Hellena

31

HELLENA

I ’m in a haze as I come around out of my deep, delicious sleep, still strung out and dazed from our lovemaking.

The rumbling aftershock of the sound that woke me trails off, and I turn over, grumbling, “Gavin, I can’t go for round two yet…”

“Hella, that wasn’t Gavin.”

My whole body protests as I sit up, my brain piecing together the sound, the feeling. Something catastrophic just happened. Nearby. Pieces start to tumble into place as I fully wake.

“Shit…”

We’re stumbling into the hallway as Ora and Alaya poke their heads out of a room at the end of the hall, looking just as disheveled. I don’t even have time to wonder about what they were doing in the same room.

“Whazzat?” Ora grumbles.

“Yeah, sounded like a fucking bomb went off,” Alaya scoffs. “You should close the door when you shit, Tell.”

Tell doesn’t respond, making me instantly concerned. He rarely lets a jab slide, let alone from Alaya.

“We don’t know. Where are Gavin and Evan?” I ask, fear bubbling in my chest.

Tell is alert, striding into the living area, checking his phone. He flips through messages, his eyes widening.

I spot the note on the counter as he chuffs a horrified sigh.

“Fuck. It was an explosion. From what I can tell, something big just went off at the reservoir!” He’s still flicking through texts, presumably from his contacts.

“Overlook Reservoir?” Ora gasps, her eyes wide. “If the dam goes…”

“Tell, Ora…” I can’t speak as my eyes dart across the page. “Read this.”

Got a tip from Sinful about something at the reservoir. Went to check it out, assess the threat. Stay put, stay on coms if you wake up.

G and E

Dread drops in my stomach, nearly freezing me to the spot before I shake my head, grabbing my phone and trying Evan’s number. The repeating beep has me hanging up, trying Gavin.

Same. Either there’s no signal or…

No. I won’t think that. Marco’s just taken out more cell towers.

“Try the radio!” Ora snaps, running for one of Gavin’s handhelds. She fiddles with it, speaking in muted tones as we stand there in the kitchen.

Fuck this. I bolt toward the stairs, taking them two at a time.

“Hell! What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed. We’re going after them.”

I won’t fall apart. Not a fucking chance.

And I won’t lose my best friends, my lovers.

I need to act.

When I return to the living area, Tell is fully dressed, Alaya and Ora scrambling in the other room and running for their shoes. I’m already heading for the door.

“Whoa! Hold your horses, Hell!”

“No. I can’t.”

“We need more info before we go rushing out into a disaster.” Tell looks at me intently.

Rushing.

Disaster.

“Let me just see if I can?—”

“Do it on the way. I can’t stay here another second and do nothing, Tell.” It’s all I can think about. That Gav and Ev were there, caught in whatever blast…

He nods once, his lips pressing together. His phone buzzes as I turn to go.

“Here, look. Kyle and Jenni just reported signs of water on the west side. Flooding. Apparently, it’s only half of town getting hit so far.”

“Same here.” Ora pops back out of the office, snapping the radio to her belt and hanging up her phone. “The Block’s new location is out of the main path of the water, but they saw the smoke up at the dam and water flooding some of the woods over that way.”

“Which means we aren’t in the path. Yet.” Tell shoulders a bag full of gear, heading toward the door. I’m right on his heels, grabbing the keys to Gavin’s truck. They must have taken the Jeep.

“But if another blast goes off or the dam gives out, this place might be underwater. The valley splits just south of it…”

I still my thoughts long enough to picture the map of town, our location relative to the massive lake. She’s right.

“But there’s nothing we can do if that happens. We need to go try and stop this,” I snap, clenching my fists.

“And help anyone we can,” Alaya chimes in, looking at Ora.

The smaller woman is frowning, looking worried. At the comment, she looks up, nodding.

“Too many of my people are still out there. Plus all of the families. Who knows how many people will be trapped. What do we do?”

“I don’t know!” I spout out before I can stop myself. I was too ready to rush off, right into danger. Now I’m spiraling, locking up.

Tell flicks his gaze toward me, softening just for a second as he sees me taking all of this in, processing. Tenderness returns to his eyes for a moment. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah. No.” I look down, a little embarrassed.

Tell smiles for a second, but it's a humorless display. Still, he wraps an arm around me, offering his firm presence and steadfast strength. “We need a plan before we do anything.”

Ora and Alaya gather around, my best friend resting her hand on my arm. “Take a breath. You’ve got this.”

So I do. And I realize she’s right.

Steeling my emotions, I look at each one of them in turn.

These are the strongest people I know.

My friends. My family.

They are all waiting for me to say something, to put them to task.

“Ora. Call your people. Ask for any volunteers who can head out to look for stranded civilians. Get on the radio, every band. We may need boats?—”

“Shallow crafts, smaller skiffs and shit. Ask for Haggart when you put out the call. He’s an old contact at the docks, knows everyone with a boat from B.C. to L.A.,” Tell interjects. Ora salutes, heading for the door.

“Thanks, Tell. Alaya, go with her and put the word out anywhere you can that people need to evacuate to higher ground. And watch her fucking back. You let anything happen to that girl and I will make you wish you never came to Sanctum, you hear me?”

Alaya’s eyes widen a fraction just before a huge grin spreads across her face.

“You can be one scary bitch when you want to, Micheals, I’ll give you that. You have my word.” She’s tailing Ora out to the vehicles as Tell and I finish gathering our gear.

“And us?” The question is rhetorical, but I appreciate Tell giving me the lead.

“We’re going to check on the damage, and I’m going to blast warnings across town for evacuation and higher ground.”

“Evan and Gavin?”

“We’ll head that way after making a pass through town.” I hate waiting, but it’s the right thing to do. “They can handle themselves until we get there.”

Outside, I flag Alaya down before they can leave and she rolls down the window.

“All of you. Stay safe. Do not get separated.” There’s not a single quaver to my voice, despite the fear coiled in my gut. “And if anyone sees Marco Vice tonight, don’t hesitate to put him down .”

We’re roaring through the streets a short time later, searching for any signs of stragglers. Most of the city is vacant, with only a few people stopping to listen to the announcement I pelt out over the speaker Tell rigged on top of Gavin’s truck. Some hesitate, some ignore us.

But I tried.

Flash floods aren’t unheard of in the mountains, so I can only hope anyone who hears me will take it seriously. Before long, but not soon enough, Tell takes us out along the ridge, speeding for the reservoir.

Random facts keep fluttering through my head as we race to find Evan and Gavin. We’re in the beginning of summer. The lake will be completely full to capacity after the spring melt.

Checking the map by flashlight, I try to predict what path it might take, what parts of town might suffer the worst. Eventually, I give up, tossing the map in the back.

“We’ll find them, Hell.”

“I know. That’s not…” I shake my head, my head roaring with intrusive thoughts. “We should have seen this coming or tried to figure out what Devonde?—”

“No way. Don’t go there. We had no way to predict what he was planning!” I’ve never heard Tell so adamant, so harsh with me. It sets me back on my heels, calms me down like nothing else could in the heat of the moment.

Taking a deep, cooling breath, I’m just getting control of myself when the screech of tires and roar of an engine rattle the truck. Right before the other vehicle rams into us, sending us swerving. Tell compensates, correcting the movement, keeping us on the road.

He accelerates, looking back to try and spot the other car.

“Fuck! No lights.”

But in the glow of our tail lights I catch movements a split second before we get rear ended. Tell’s ready this time, taking the hit and keeping the wheel steady. Stomping on the gas, he takes a turn at breakneck speed, veering us onto the final stretch of road before it heads up the steep slope and up onto the level of the reservoir.

“We need to lose them!”

“How? There’s only one road,” I protest, looking back into the darkness. No sign of them.

“I have an idea…” Tell mutters, flooring it up the incline.

That’s when I see it, the first signs of water, cascading onto the road to our left. Another roar has me frantically glancing around before I realize what it is.

Rolling down the window, the sound is deafening.

Like Niagara Falls.

And this water beside us must only be a fraction of the main outpouring.

We clear the top of the rise just as two black SUVs come out of the darkness behind us, forcing Tell to turn to avoid getting hit again. He skids the truck hard, our tail end flinging up spray as the rear tires hit water.

One SUV slides, tipping over the lip of the incline and sliding down into the water. The rush of the river drags the vehicle off faster than I can even process.

“One down…”

But the other SUV is coming at us too fast.

Tell guns it, jerks the wheel to send us back the way we came. The corner of the black SUV clips us.

Tires screech.

I hear myself screaming.

Tell shouts, throwing out an arm across my chest as we donut out away from the north side of the road and the water, back toward the drop above the road we took up here.

And right over the side.