Tempest (5 page)

Finally, they were able
to predict the path of the storm and they cancelled classes
mid-session. There was a flurry of students when I exited to the
hallway. I tensed, instantly feeling something was not right. My
instincts surged to life. I could smell Ana’s fear. I had to find
her. I wove my way through the halls, cursing that I couldn’t use
any of my supernatural abilities. If I didn’t find her soon…

As I finally spot Ana
down the hall, I simultaneously hear the shouts from a male faculty
member yelling, “witch!” Was this directed at Ana? All I knew was
that I had to get her out of here.

I was by her side in a
second. “Let’s go,” I commanded. But she seemed too disoriented
to move. I took her arm and, after analyzing the possible exit
routes, led her the quickest way to the parking lot. I hadn’t
realized I'd picked up my pace until I asked her for her keys and saw
she was jogging to keep up.

After having to adjust
the seat, we took off in her truck. Ana hadn’t moved a muscle as
she sat in the passenger seat. Her face looked paler than usual, her
eyes vacant as if replaying unwanted memories.

I knew I should say
something. I had pulled her out of there with literally no
explanations and I felt I should offer her some comfort. She looked
ready to go into shock. What had he said to her? That she was a
witch?

“This is New Orleans;
you know how witch- and vampire-crazy people are.”

“Actually, I don’t.”

Great.
What was
I supposed to reply to that?

“Thank you,” she
surprised me, with sincerity in her tone.

I smiled at this small
progress. When I had pulled into her driveway, I didn’t know if I
was thankful or remorseful that we had something new on which to
focus. “You probably need to start preparing for the evacuations.”
Or you could stay, and we could talk.

She shrugged, as if it
was the furthest thing from her mind. At least she didn’t make any
moves to leave the car. “Evacuate? Oh, I’m not evacuating.”

“Not evacuating?” I
couldn't fathom a worse situation then having to protect her from the
Underworld during a hurricane. “You have to evacuate, Ana.”

My authority was
immediately met with resistance. “I am
from
New Orleans and
have lived through hurricanes my entire life. You have no right to
tell me what I should or should not do,” she finished her sentence
with a puff of breath. I could sense her rise in body temperature and
knew I must have really angered her.

“You are right, Ana.”

“Why do you call me
Ana? My name is
Adriana
.”

I must have really
gotten under her skin because I used that nickname for her countless
times before. “Ok,
Adriana
. Please accept my apologies. I
had no place—“

“You know what,
Hayden? I have to go.”

Before I could say
anything more, she jumped out of her truck and ran through the rain
into her house.

Things had just hit
rock bottom.

I left Ana’s—or
Adriana’s—car in her driveway and walked back to our house. I
didn’t care that it was raining even harder now. I took the slowest
pace possible, wishing the rain were able to chill my skin, because
that’s how I felt. Cold. Empty. I had allowed Hunting to
interfere—and ruin—my only chance at something normal. Well, no
longer. Adriana Alexander would be evacuating New Orleans. And she
was going to be where she would be the most protected.

With me.

I was going to kidnap
her.

Luke was leaning
against the doorway of my bedroom. He had a crooked smile and was no
doubt wondering why I wasn’t at Ana's covering my shift.

“Pack up, we’re
leaving in the morning.” I was throwing what little I had of my
belongings in a black duffel bag. Stakes, venom, potions. The usual.

“What about—“

“By
we’re
, I
mean you, Ana and I.” I gave him a crooked smile.

“So you finally came
to your senses. Got bored of her that easily, did you?”

I snarled. “Actually,
she’s coming with us to Tampa. And you won’t lay one finger on
her to harm her.”

Luke opened his mouth
but then shut it. He crossed his arms over his chest, “What’s
your genius plan this time?”

* * *

We needed a new car—a
less conspicuous car than my black Aston Martin— so I left that job
up to Luke while I watched Ana’s house. Her father had left that
morning with a woman and a baby—and a car full of suitcases. He was
evacuating yet leaving his own daughter? I couldn’t help but feel
disappointed. Yes, it made my job easier. A little too easy but I
didn’t want to imagine Ana being left behind.

Luke came back with a
common, white 2-door truck. He was hiding a grin and I had wondered
briefly if the car was stolen.
I swear, if he messes this up on
purpose…

We followed Ana as she
ran errands to prepare to ride out the hurricane. We had pulled in a
supermarket and would wait until she came out to make the grab. The
place was nearly empty and the roads were congested with people
evacuating. It would be the perfect opportunity. Luke was going along
with the plan so far. I thought it was pretty fool-proof myself but
knowing Luke, he was probably just waiting for it to fall apart.

Finally, Ana came out
of the store with a plastic bag filled with Coke bottles. I made a
mental note to have my mother stock the fridge with it when we got
there.

Ana noticed us, like I
knew she would. But she hesitated, either because she was still angry
with me or she was unsure if it was really us.

I took the map out of
the center console and rolled down my window. “Pardon me.”

“Hayden?” She had
the familiar crease of confusion on her brow as she came toward my
window.

I looked down at the
map, feigning puzzlement. “We’re a little lost, I’m afraid to
admit. We are trying to find the I-10 out of here?”

I could almost feel
Luke’s eyes roll next to me. I looked over at him and was about to
punch him for burying his face in his hat, looking mortified.

“Um…well…ok.” I
looked back at Ana and wondered if she would really give me the
directions or stalk away for not recognizing her. She blew out a
breath in frustration then, politely but harshly, gave me the
directions I didn’t really need.

I continued looking at
the map, pretending I was trying to find the streets she was naming.

“Here let me show
you.” I smiled inwardly that despite everything, she didn’t show
an ounce of impatience while she did so. As soon as she leaned over
the window to point to the map, I pulled her inside. I was already
starting to drive away as I tried to pull her to the middle seat. Ana
fell onto Luke and I prayed he would be gentle with her. I
immediately followed the route I had devised. Speeding past cars and
weaving in and out of lanes to make sure no one saw us. Ana
recovered, now situating herself in the middle seat between Luke and
I.

“What are you doing?”
I heard the panic in her voice. She looked at Luke when I didn’t
answer. Luke, however, was waiting for my answer, looking at me like,
yeah, just what
are
you doing?

“Hello?” She
continued when I couldn’t reply. “Where are we going? What is
going on?” I could sense her breathing and heart rate had
increased, her body was starting to go into fight-or-flight mode.

“There is no point in
screaming if that’s what you’re thinking of doing, and I won’t
even bother mentioning how physically impossible it would be if you
tried to fight us—or escape for that matter.”

“Hayden?” She was
looking at me, waiting for me to say I was kidding. A pained
expression came over my face, because this was far from a joke. I had
hoped she would remain calm but her heart rate continued to increase.
“Bring me back to my truck!”

“Ana, please calm
down.”

“Don’t tell me to
calm down!”

Her screaming was
suddenly muffled and I looked over to see Luke had her in a hold with
his hand covering her delicate mouth.

“This was a bad idea.
I told you she was a fighter,” Luke bit out. I could hear her still
trying to scream. I suddenly wished I hadn’t been the one driving.

“If I take my hand
away, are you going to scream?” Luke asked her as if she were a
child. Her eyes were wide as she shook her head from side to side to
indicate no. When he released her, I exhaled and brought my eyes back
to the road. Luke and I would be having a very heated discussion
later…

“Tell me what’s
going on?” Ana asked me.

I felt Luke looking at
me, anticipating my answer. “We are protecting you.”
I
was
protecting you, I should have said.

“Yes, those words
sound familiar. Tell me how kidnapping me is protecting me.”

I wanted to tell her
the truth, but her body was still going through a state of shock. I
couldn’t tell her everything yet. Besides, now I had all the time
in the world to do so.

“Per our conversation
yesterday, you said you weren’t going to evacuate.” Would she buy
it?

“Ok, ok. So you’ve
convinced me.” I could hear the sarcasm in her voice. “You are
right, absolutely right. I think I will evacuate. So just bring me
back to my truck, and I will evacuate to my uncle’s in Atlanta.”

Of course she wouldn’t
buy it, and would still try to get out of it. “What’s done is
done. You are coming with us regardless.” I was a little hurt that
she had wanted to get away from me that badly.

“Do us a favor and
keep your mouth shut,” Luke said bitterly; I shot him a hard look.
You’re being an immense help.

Ana didn’t speak
again as I entered the highway, finally free from traffic and
witnesses.

I had been driving
south for a few minutes when she started noticing highway signs.
“You’re going the wrong way!” There was a slight nervousness to
her voice. I knew exactly where I was going. It was the same place
where this had all started, where I had first learned of Ana. I
needed more information from Sansha. If we were to keep her safe, I
needed to know why LaLaurie would want her life and who else knew
about her.

“This is the I-10
South. It goes straight down to Grand Isle. It is right in the path
of the storm. It’s right on the gulf!”

I nodded, agreeing that
we were going into the Bayou, just not ready to tell her where.

I fought a snicker as
Ana slunk bitterly back in her seat. She crossed her arms over chest
waiting to see what would happen next. She didn’t questions my
directions further as I turned off the highway onto a road unseen by
mortals. I heard Ana’s heart start to palpitate as she looked out
at the swamp on either side of the windows. I continued to watch her
and the road as her breathing became irregular. Then I had really
started to worry when she started to sway.

“Adriana?”

I literally stopped my
beating heart, as I considered what was happening to her. She was
sucking in breaths as if she couldn’t breathe. “Adriana! Are you
okay?”

All of a sudden, her
body went lax and she started to fall toward the dashboard. “Luke!
Get her!”

I slammed on the breaks
as Luke cradled her before she could hit her head.

“Give me her!” I
took her from him and left the cab, knowing she needed to lie flat. I
didn’t have a choice but to set her down on the dirt road. Her face
started to return to its normal color but she still didn’t stir.
If
anything happens to her…

“What purpose does
this serve?” Luke could care less as he leaned against the truck
watching me worry.

“Quiet. She just
needs some fresh air.” I prayed that was all that was wrong with
her, and I leaned in to see if I could sense anything else. Her eyes
flew open and I leaned back, relieved. I gave Luke a look that said
“I told you so,”
and when I looked back at Ana I saw that
she had already risen—and was running in the other direction.

“Go get her!” Luke
yelled at my dumbfounded expression.

It took me a second at
supernatural speed to grab her. I didn’t even bother running at a
normal pace, I couldn’t risk it. But the force when I grabbed her
caused us both to fall to the ground. I was still on top of her,
careful not to crush her but trying to control my emotions. Like any
Hunter, we liked the chase. Using my supernatural abilities just
intensified that need.

“Don’t. Don’t
ever run from me.” I regretted growling out the warning. Her face
was inches from mine and when her breaths deepened in response, I
knew I had to get up. Touching her intensified the connection between
us. My heartbeat slowed in response to match hers. As if feeling the
pull between us, her gaze slid to my lips. I suppressed my instincts
enough to pull us to a stand.

I held onto her as we
walked back to the truck; I didn’t think my resolve would be able
to handle another chase.

“Nice,” Luke said
sarcastically as we walked by. “I told you this was
not
a
good idea. Can’t we just kill her now?”

Was he trying to make
her faint again? He was going to pay for this later. Right now, I had
to take care of Ana.

“Don’t listen to
him. We just need to talk with a friend of ours before we head out of
town. To my relief, she nodded and got willingly in the truck.

As we pulled up to the
house, Ana’s hand went up to cover her nose. It was as if
she
could smell what we did. As if she could smell what a voodoun used
spells to mask.

I grabbed her free hand
and led her inside. “What kind of friends do you have?” Ana asked
as she regarded the house and its various voodoo paraphernalia.

I smirked. “You have
no idea.”

Sansha walked into the
room just then, in the middle of making a sacrifice to Erzulie
Dantor, a Loa who she believes is responsible for natural disasters.