Chapter 122 Rain And Ruin

• Rain drums against the car windows as lightning flashes and rolls across the sky. Normally, I’d find the storm unsettling, but nothing could be more unsettling than the storm of tension raging in the car. The leather seat between Efrem and me feels wider than it did when we left the Diallo mansion, though nothing has physically changed. Hours of silence stretch behind us like the dark road ahead, broken only by the rhythmic sweep of windshield wipers.
• I keep my eyes fixed on the window, watching rivers of water track patterns across glass. It’s easier than catching Efrem’s reflection. The storm grew steadily as we drove, starting as a gentle mist and building to this downpour that turns the world beyond our headlights into sheets of grey.
• My stomach rolls slightly as Alek takes a curve too fast, and I have to swallow hard against the familiar nausea. Amara’s medication wore off hours ago, but I couldn’t risk taking another pill with Efrem watching. He’s been too observant lately, studying me with that calculating gaze that sees more than I wish it would.