Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

ODETTE

Water sloshed around me, but seemed to have stopped rising. My fear, however, was only increasing. My niece, Amelia, and I were trapped in the basement of my dad’s furniture store. Well, basement was not really an accurate term. ‘Escape tunnel’ was what it really was. Foxes were notorious escape artists. Even shifter foxes.

Somehow in the evacuation, Amelia had slipped away. She was there one minute and gone the next. We’re still not sure how that happened. I felt so stupid for turning my back on her. I was the adult; she was the kit. It was my responsibility to watch her and I failed.

I knew I wasn’t the only one at fault. There’d been my parents, her parents, and a lot of others from our skulk around. But I still felt guilty. She wouldn’t be trapped down here with me if I’d kept a better eye on her.

Amelia was three. Her instincts were still developing. In the face of a terrible disaster heading straight for our small town in western North Carolina, she’d done what came natural to her: burrowed back into her den.

Now, unlike actual foxes, she didn’t have a real den underground or in the trunk of a tree. Her den was where she felt the safest, which was my dad’s shop. Amelia even had a mattress under his desk where she took naps at his feet. Foxes started shifting around two years old and they were the cutest little fluffs of fur when they did. She loved her parents, there was no doubt about that, but she was Grandpa’s Girl. It would make sense that when her instincts told her to go to ground, that she would go to the one place where she felt the safest.

By the time we realized Amelia was missing, the storm was already upon us. My dad was the head of our skulk, the Alpha. We were the last to leave, needing to ensure everyone else got out safely. Heavy rains, winds, flash floods… It was terrifying, but we couldn’t leave without Amelia. The concept was unthinkable.

We ran off in search of her. Cell towers were already down, so we had to rely on our senses to find her.

My parents went to their home while my sister and her mate went back to theirs. I loved Amelia and she was often at my house, but it made no sense why she would go to my home for safety. I went to my dad’s store.

Where I found her under my dad’s desk.

The streets were already flooded. Knowing we couldn’t get out the way I’d come in, I went for the escape tunnel.

But there was a massive crack and suddenly the tunnel came down upon us. Mud, dust, and debris everywhere, it was hard to breathe at first. Then water started to fill the tunnel. I thought for sure we were about to die. I was barely able to keep Amelia’s head above the water as we were thrashed around for several terrifying minutes.

Then I spotted a concrete slab. It was only because of my ability to see in the dark that I did. A human likely would not have noticed it.

Unlike Jack and Rose, I got us over to it and was able to get both of us on top. I encouraged Amelia to shift. In her fox form, she was smaller, yes, but she would be warmer too. If needed, I could fit her inside my shirt.

Then it was a waiting game. I feared the water would rise above the concrete slab and drown us, but it never did. I think the water went down the escape tunnel and never rose to our level.

I still didn’t know how much time had passed. The wind seemed to have stopped howling like a pack of wolves overhead, but water continued to flow into the tunnel.

I couldn’t see a way out. The hatch in the floor caved in, as had most of the ceiling. We were at the top of the tunnel, still under the store. I knew that much. From what I could make out, the floor above us split in two, making a V of concrete. We were trapped at the start of the tunnel, the right portion of the broken floor protecting us from most of the damage. But there also wasn’t an escape upwards into the showroom. When the building collapsed, it filled that V with rubble, furniture, computers, and more.

I was resourceful, but I was also only one fox. I didn’t have the strength to lift all that concrete and debris to get Amelia and me out of here.

Additionally, the wind might have stopped but it was still raining. For now, we were stuck. I couldn’t even attempt to dig our way up until the water stopped flowing into the tunnel.

I clutched my niece to my chest, hoping my body provided her with enough warmth.