Path of Destruction (Broken Heartland, #2)(2)

“Come on!” she screamed, barely able to hear herself over what sounded like a fleet of helicopters descending on her. The darkness made it that much harder to see what she was doing. Her eyes cloudy with a mix of mud, rain and tears. Tears that she was crying not only because she was scared, but because she was so damn mad at herself for being in this situation. If only she would have told Kyle how she’d felt sooner. The two of them could have been huddled up together in the safety of her house instead of her alone out on some back country road on a run-down property.

She shouldn’t have let herself think that they couldn’t make it. It really didn’t matter where he went to school or what he did for a living. She loved him and that was more than enough. She cursed out loud at her frustrations and at the fact that she couldn’t budge the door standing between her and safety. If she wanted to see Kyle again and tell him that she was sorry, she was going to have to man up.

Each muscle in her arm felt like it was ripping apart as she struggled to hang on to the door as an unseen monster approached. Not just a monster—a tornado. A big one. Like, the biggest one Calumet County had ever seen. Pulling against the wind, she finally managed to get the door up just enough to squeeze her small frame into the cellar, but it was too late. The monster was there and it was out for blood.

Darkness surrounded her as she felt her legs fall from beneath her. The thunder pounding so loudly that she could feel it vibrate her entire body. Crouching in the dark, she closed her eyes and prayed for something—anyone—to save her.

“I got you,” she heard Kyle’s voice call out and felt his warmth wrap around her.

He came for me. He must have gotten my message.

“Kyle, I—” she started to say, trying to find his face in the pitch black.

“Hold on, Belle,” he whispered in her ear. “You’re going to be okay. I love you too much to let anything happen to you.”

So she did. She held on to him and waited for the storm to be over.



The muffled voices she heard seemed familiar, but her eyes refused to open. Her throat was tight as she tried to swallow, causing her body to jerk and sending shock waves of pain through her body. Forcing her eyes to open didn’t help. As she squinted against the harsh light in the room, she tried to make out the faces of the people who had been talking—her parents.

“Oh, baby girl,” her mother said, touching her face in a way that almost made her believe that she was in fact dead. Physical contact was not something the Nickelsons did, and whatever was happening right now was almost too much to take. The concerned look on her mother’s face was mixed with joy as she smiled down at her. “You’re going to be okay.”

“She’s awake!” her father screamed out.

As her eyes adjusted, she swore she saw a tear fall down his cheek. Her head throbbed as she tried to make sense of it all. She tried to speak, but the tightness in her throat wouldn’t let her. Almost like something was blocking it. As she started to move her hand up to her mouth, her mother stopped her.

“Wait, baby,” she said. “The nurse will have to take the tube out.”

Tube? What the hell is she talking about?

Panic set in as Cami realized where she was—a hospital. She was in a hospital with a tube down her throat. Her eyes widened as she looked at her parents and she shook her head not wanting to believe it. How had she—

The tornado.

The events started to replay in her mind, but she couldn’t understand. She’d pulled the door open. She stepped down in the root cellar. She remembered the way the cold concrete felt against her bare feet. She had been safe. With Kyle.

Her eyes darted around the room, hoping that she’d see him there.

Where is he?

“It’s okay, honey,” her mother said, wiping the tears that had begun to fall down her face. “You’re safe now. You’re okay.”

She wasn’t sure what to believe. It was all so surreal.

By the time the nurse came in to remove her tube, she was trying to accept the fact that whatever had happened to her must have been serious. She flailed in wild panic like a cornered animal—frantic and disoriented as the feeling of having her esophagus removed outweighed the voices telling her everything was fine and that she was okay.

Her head was pounding in rhythm with her elevated heartbeat. Each thud thoroughly emphasizing that she hadn’t been as safe as she thought.

“Take a drink,” the nurse told her with a friendly smile once she’d yanked out the tube. Cami reached up slowly, trying not to pull at the cord that was firmly implanted with a needle in the top of her hand. “Better?”

If, by better, the nurse meant that the burning sensation in her throat was alleviated by the water, then yes. But not better as in terrified about what had happened to her.

“What—” Cami cleared her scratchy throat. “What happened? Where’s Kyle?”

“You were in an accident,” her father stated as if she hadn’t already assumed that. She stared at him with wide eyes encouraging him to continue. “The storm—”

“I remember that part,” she interrupted. “I went in the root cellar though and then Kyle came.”

“You were alone, baby.”

“No,” she insisted. “He was there.” She could feel her heart racing as her parents looked at her with disbelief. She knew what happened. He’d come there to save her.