Storm Warning - By Kadi Dillon Page 0,22

mother. Tears streaming down her face, Barbie in one hand, Tory started across the yard, stopping short when her mother vanished too.

She cried out, calling for them. The tornado kept spinning toward the fields on the other side of the house. Tory tried to chase it. If it would take her too, she could be with her Mommy and Daddy—but it was faster.

So much faster.

She stopped running when the tornado went back up into the sky. It was eerie again.

Calm, quiet, and over.

Tory sat up straight in bed and sucked in a painful breath. She wanted to scream and cry, but even that wasn’t possible.

Gabe was sitting on the bed beside her. He took her ice cold hands in his.

“It’s okay, Tory. It was just a dream.”

“No, it wasn’t. It wasn’t a dream.” It was a memory. She shook her head and fought for calm. Gabe handed her a cup of something. She didn’t care what it was. She sucked it down greedily.

Coffee, she realized, even though she could hardly taste it. The smell helped bring her out of her panic. She sat on the bed staring at their joined hands. His long, dark fingers tangled with her slim, pale ones.

“Thank you,” she managed after a moment. “How long did I sleep?”

“About twelve hours.”

She nodded although she hated to lose so much time. She supposed she had needed it. Her muscles were lax and loose, the scrapes barely bothered her. She glanced at Gabe and noticed with a frown that he was still dressed in the clothes he wore on the chase.

“You haven’t been to bed?”

“No.”

“You didn’t have to stay up because of me.”

He snorted and flipped a light on. Opening the refrigerator, he pulled out a sack, arranged food on a plate, and popped it in the microwave.

“Are you feeling okay?” he asked her as he topped off her coffee. “Nauseas, dizzy?”

“No, I’m fine.” She lay back against the pillow she’d propped. “How are you?”

“Wonderful.”

Tory heard the sarcasm in his voice—saw his dark features drawn before he turned around to stare at nothing.

“Gabe?” she said quietly.

“I’m fine.” He pulled the plate out and brought it over to her. “You need to eat something. It’s been too long for you to go without something in your system.”

“Is everything okay?” she asked without looking at the food he held out to her. She could tell he was angry, she just didn’t know why.

“What do you mean?”

“Is everyone all right? No one got hurt, did they?”

“No,” he answered quickly with barely controlled violence. “No one except for you.”

“Gabe, I’m fine. I’ve had much worse. I didn’t even have to get stitches or anything.” She took the plate when his hand began to shake.

“You keep telling yourself that.” He grabbed his jacket and headed for the door.

“Gabe.” She called out to him and he stopped, rigid in the doorway. “Please don’t go anywhere yet. I—I need you here right now.”

He turned slowly. She saw the change in his eyes—fury to control—and he nodded, dropping his jacket into a chair by the door. He crossed to the bed and sat on the edge of it.

“Eat.”

She complied eagerly, eating every bite and drinking two and a half cups of coffee. When he took her plate to the sink, she tried again.

“What’s wrong?”

His jaw tightened again and the plate clattered in the sink.

“You could have been killed,” he said in a flat, angry voice. He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing roughly in his throat. “You ran after a tornado, Tory.”

“I know. I’m sorry I scared everyone. I wasn’t really thinking.”

He smiled now, only a little. “At least you’re honest.”

She lay back again against the pillows. “How long are we staying here?”

“Your brother said we’ll move out on Friday. He’s concerned about you, but I think he wants any excuse to be able to use the gym for a week.”

She ignored his attempt at distracting her and frowned. “Today’s Monday.”

“Yes.”

“Why are we wasting a week out of the chase? We should be following that system east.” Five days in one place? The thought caused dread to her stomach to turn.

“We would be if you weren’t physically exhausted and cut up everywhere.”

“I said I was sorry. And sorry isn’t something I usually am.” She smiled at his frown.

“No, you wouldn’t be would you? You mean everything you do. Why should you be sorry for it?” His hand shot out and grabbed her arm. He pulled her to him and said into her ear, “Ever do that again, I’ll