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I shook my head to clear my runaway mind. Even if that were the case, it shouldn’t bother me.
It’s Seth, you’rejustfriends, always have been.
Chapter five
Erin
We pulled up to the power plant in Riverside a few hours later, Seth and Libby rode in his car while I hitched a ride with Derik in his oversized, metallic-grey Silverado. In part because I wanted to avoid being stuck in a small car with Seth and Libby after the little tease-the-new-Nephilim fiasco earlier.
I went to push the passenger door open when Derik hit the automatic button on his side and locked the doors. “What the hell, dude?” I huffed.
“Chill out, Snow. Just want to brief ya before we head in. I know I was messing with you earlier but Seth was right about needing to be careful,” he leveled his eyes with mine. “We don’t know exactly what we’re heading into here. A couple of our guys have been looking around scoping the place out but you need to be careful. Don’t run off and stick with one of us. I know you and I ain’t buddies so I’m not going to be up your ass but…just stay close at least to Seth or Libby.”
I’m not some lost puppy.
I bit the inside of my mouth and nodded my head. “Okay, got it. Don’t run away from the superhumans. Anything else?”
He cracked a smile at that. “Try not to lose your shirt when you see what I can do.” He winked at me and I rolled my eyes as I held back the gag that wanted to follow.
I wrinkled my nose. “You wish, perv. Now let me out of this damn truck.”
Derik unlocked the door and I might’ve pushed a little too hard because I stumbled forward as it slammed open.
An arm jutted out and caught me before I face-planted on the cracked pavement. I grunted out a thank you and steadied myself, using the individual as leverage.
I’m blaming my lack of coordination today on this whole Nephilim bullshit.
Had I spent the entirety of my life clumsy? Maybe. But that was beside the point.
“Are you alright?” A gravelly male voice kissed a deep part of me, Holy hell. I slowly looked up at the person attached to the savior arm. Talk about hot. Oh mylord. He stood at least half a foot taller than me. His hair was a deep chestnut brown, cut short, and lightly spiked in the front. His jawline chiseled and kissed by one hell of a five o’clock shadow. His eyes, a piercing blue speckled with flakes of gold, like what you’d see looking out at a tropical hot spot. I was completely captivated.
“I…I…uh. Um. Yes! Yeah, I’m good. I’m fine. Thanks.” I was a stuttering mess. And pretty sure a drop of drool hung onto my gaping mouth for dear life.
Chill out, Snow. Take a breather.
“Thanks for the save.” I laughed nervously as I snatched my arm out of his warm grip, my blood hammering in my chest.
“My pleasure,” chills shivered down my spine at the deep timbre of his voice. “I’m Josh.”
“Erin. Erin Snow.” I croaked.
We stood there staring at each other for what felt like forever.
Wow.
“Yo! Snow, Josh! You coming or not?” Derik yelled, snapping me and Josh out of our little trance. Derik was already across the pavement, jogging into what remained of Riverside.
We started toward the ghost of the building, following the path Derik had taken. “So, you must be the new blood then, Miss Snow. What are your thoughts so far?” Josh kept his voice low and even, as if strolling through a pyromaniac’s abandoned funhouse was a daily thing for him.
I kept my eyes forward, doing my best to avoid tripping over the rubble surrounding the outside of the building. The power plant was in complete disarray; the concrete walls wereblown out, the pavement cracked and broken beyond repair, and glass from what used to be narrow windows scattered around the grounds. Black ash surrounded the premises. It was utter devastation.
Were there really no deaths?
An ache pierced my pounding heart at the possibility of the missing people somehow being here when everything went down.
What if they…died?
A tear threatened to slip.
