33
Camila
I wake up feeling as though the world has decided to shed its skin without warning and, above all, with a frustration the size of Australia.
I reach out across the cabin bed, but all I find are cold sheets.
Of course—I’m sure that stubborn Darana got up before dawn to round up a herd of stray calves before the sky came crashing down, leaving me wanting more of last night.
A classic move by the relentless Calloway.
I step out onto the porch with my first cup of coffee steaming in my hands, take a sip, and look up—only to nearly choke.
An almost apocalyptic mix of purplish and yellowish hues covers the sky.
I know exactly what this means: ionization has reached absurd levels.
The charged particles are interacting with sunlight, distorting the visible spectrum; the yellowish hue is suspended dust mixed with radiation-excited oxides, and the violet…
the violet is accumulated energy seeking a ground connection.
A ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.
“Damn…” I mutter, the cup almost pressed against my lips. “This wasn’t in the Birdsong Hills tourist brochure.”
“Well, you should’ve asked for a refund, smarty-pants,” replies a voice as sexy as can be.
I set the cup down on the railing with deliberate slowness.
Darana is standing there, leaning against the wooden pillar, her legs crossed, her arms folded across her chest, and that little smirk of hers driving me crazy.
Although the truth is, it turns me on to unimaginable levels.
She’s wearing tight pants that should be banned by law and a tilted hat.
The wind plays with her blond locks, and her honey-colored eyes devour me shamelessly despite the storm raging above her head.
“Good morning to you too, cowgirl,” I snap, letting my gaze travel from head to toe. “What a way to snub me. And here I was, wanting to say good morning to you…”
Darana bursts out laughing, steps away from the pillar, and walks toward me with a delightful sway of her hips. Then she stops a millimeter from my face.
“Duty calls, Bennet,” she whispers. She brushes my chin with her fingertip, sending a shiver down my spine that pales in comparison to the storm brewing outside.
“We had to finish securing the livestock and the sheds. But don’t worry, I have a very good memory for unfinished business.
Is it worse than we thought?” she asks, shifting her gaze to the sky.
“Much worse,” I reply, swallowing hard to regain my composure. “The atmospheric instability is increasing at an exponential rate. We have hours—maybe less—before the lightning turns this place into a fireworks display.”
Darana exhales sharply and shakes her head.
“I love it when you go all nerdy scientist on me, I really do, but right now it’s my turn to be the boss. Ricky!” she shouts toward the pens. “Get your butt in gear!”
Ricky appears a few seconds later, running, carrying the walkie-talkie and wearing his usual smile.
“The truck’s ready, girls,” he announces.
“Then let’s go,” Darana declares, winking at me. “The sooner we finish the sweep of the town, the sooner I can attend to my… commitments.”
The ride in the SUV is tense. Darana drives with one hand firmly on the steering wheel, dodging the potholes on the red dirt road while the wind whips up swirls of dust against the windshield.
I’m in the passenger seat, but my eyes are glued to her thighs.
To break the tension, I grab the walkie-talkie.
“How’s it going over there, Ethan?”
A second of static, then his voice comes through:
“Good. The rest of the preemptive evacuation of the low-lying areas along the river is all set. People are gathering and giving it their all. Lily, Joyce, and Christian are helping Kira with the supplies.”
“Perfect. Keep them calm,” I reply.
“And, in case you’re interested,” Ethan adds in a teasing tone, “the whole town is talking about ‘Calloway and her scientist.’ They say you make a great team. In every sense of the word.”
I glance sideways at Darana. She keeps her eyes fixed on the road, but a delightful dimple appears on her cheek. I let go of the walkie-talkie and reach out, brushing her thigh. Far from pulling away, she covers my hand with hers, pressing it against her burning skin.
“Well, well. Looks like we’re getting some good press,” I say in a low voice with a playful edge.
“Don’t get used to it,” she replies, giving me an intense sideways glance for a second. “As soon as this is over, they’ll be back to complaining about the price of meat and how Angus bites their boots.”
“Hey, I’d complain too if I had to deal with his temper,” I fire back, sliding my fingers a couple of inches up her leg.
Ricky bursts out laughing from the back seat, peering between us.
“Please, I’m begging you, cut out the sweet talk while the sky is falling apart. I’ve got enough on my plate just keeping an eye on the road.”
Darana slams on the brakes as we enter town, making us all laugh. The main street is a hive of activity. The neighbors are quickly securing the roof panels and reinforcing the windows and doors; we jump out of the truck. Mr. Henderson is standing next to his store, leaning on his cane.
“Everything okay?” Darana asks with that natural authority that drives me crazy.
“Securing things, Miss Calloway. I don’t like this sky one bit,” the old man grumbles.
“You’re right to do that,” I interject, crossing my arms. “If the electrical activity is severe, any structurally unsound building can act as an unintended conductor. I’ve seen entire metal fences reduced to molten slag in a second.”
Henderson looks at me, takes off his hat, and gives me a nod.
“I trust you, girl. You and Darana have helped us a lot. You two make a good team, that’s for sure.”
“He’d better trust us!” Ricky shouts, carrying some sandbags. “Because I’m not about to die from a lightning strike!”
We walk down the street, and Mrs. Gable greets us warmly from the doorway of her bakery, her hands covered in flour.
“Girls!” she shouts. “I took several trays of meat pies to the social club. Take good care of yourselves, both of you! You’re doing a wonderful job.”
Darana stops in the middle of the street, grabs me unexpectedly by the waist, and presses me against her body in front of everyone. My heart skips a beat.
“I’ve got her under control, Mrs. Gable, don’t worry,” Darana replies with a smug smile, winking at the baker. Then she looks at me and whispers in my ear, “Let’s get out of here before she kisses you right here.”
Oh my goodness, that cowgirl.
The world is falling apart, and she’s making suggestive remarks.
· · ·
When we get back to the SUV, the scene has gotten worse. The clouds aren’t just moving anymore—they’re writhing like living, dense, colossal masses, devouring the light. I can clearly see the convective towers rising with silent violence.
“We have to go back now,” I say urgently.
Darana starts the engine, shifts into first gear, and we shoot back down the trail. The return trip is a race against time. The wind lashes the side of the vehicle, and the light turns gray and strange. As soon as we brake in front of the main house, we jump out of the truck.
The spectacle is mesmerizing. The clouds swirl in a colossal vortex. Inside, trapped electrical pulses light up the sky from within, like giant light bulbs about to burst.
“We should make one last round of the barns,” I say, pulling my jacket tighter as the wind blows my hair around. “The animals sense the drop in pressure before anyone else. We have to make sure there isn’t a disaster.”
“But only for half an hour,” Darana replies, grabbing my arm so I’ll look at her directly. Her eyes shine with a hint of fear for the first time. “Don’t stray from me. If anything happens to you, I’ll burn this damn continent to the ground. Got it?”
I smile, stepping forward to press my chest against hers. The tension in the air is nothing compared to the sparks flying between us.
“Don’t worry. We’re going to get Angus to safety.”
We run toward the pens. The horses whinny and kick at the wooden sides of their stalls, but the structures hold firm. In the small pen, Angus watches us, sitting on his hindquarters and chewing a piece of eucalyptus bark with utter indifference, as if the end of the world were none of his concern.
“Wow, he’s still as stubborn as ever. Just like his owner,” I tease, giving Darana an affectionate nudge with my shoulder as we watch the donkey bray sulkily.
“You wish I were that docile,” she replies with a feline glance. “Come on, get a move on! Help me get this stubborn beast to the main house before this damn nightmare begins.”
Between the two of us, pulling on the halter and urging him forward, we manage to guide Angus to the back porch of the main house.
Angus walks in, kicking the air a couple of times and grumbling about the move, but settles down next to the dogs beneath the awning.
Darana closes the gate and locks it securely, securing the perimeter, then turns to me.
The wind is already howling fiercely, ruffling her blond hair and plastering her shirt to her body.
She grabs me by the arms, pulling me toward her in a swift motion that leaves me breathless. Her honey-colored eyes sparkle.
“Listen to me carefully, scientist,” she shouts to be heard over the gale. “I have to stay out here to make one last round with Bert and secure the generators. You go straight to the cabin. I don’t want you to move from there, understood?”
“And let you have all the fun? No way, Calloway,” I retort, standing my ground and grabbing her by the lapels of her jacket. “Be careful. Don’t get too cocky—I know you.”
Darana flashes a cheeky smile and steals a quick, passionate kiss from me—the kind that leaves your legs trembling.
“I have a very big incentive to come back in one piece. And she’s waiting for me in your bed,” she whispers in my ear before giving me an affectionate swat. “Come on, run to the cabin!”
I give her one last reproachful—and purely lustful—glance before dashing off toward the research cabin with Ethan and Kira. I run, holding my hat in place with one hand as the first serious gusts sweep across the station’s courtyard.
I burst into the cabin, bolting the door behind me.
Inside, the atmosphere is tense. Ethan and Kira are glued to the monitors, surrounded by topographic maps and three-dimensional graphics of the protection network.
I yank off my gloves and plant myself beside them.
I shove Ethan aside and start frantically typing in the data from the latest probe.
The network of copper trenches glows on the screen, winding beneath the ranch grounds like a treasure map.
“It’s working,” Ethan murmurs, running a finger along the collar of his shirt, looking flustered. “It’s connecting the static charge from the surface to the deep aquifer. We’re creating the largest ground connection in the sector.”
Kira shakes her head, pointing to a graph with red spikes shooting straight up.
“Yes, but look at this. The electric field intensity is rising exponentially, not gradually. The thermal anomaly in the ground is feeding back into the storm. I don’t like this one bit.”
I feel a knot in my stomach. I look toward the window, thinking of Darana out there, braving the storm, and my heart skips a beat.
“The field intensity is stronger than we calculated,” I admit, my voice tense as I continue analyzing the potential lines. “Much stronger. The subsoil is completely saturated. If the main lightning strike hits the grid right now, the return stroke is going to be brutal.”
Kira runs a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh of exhaustion.
“Oh my God… This is going to be hell.”
I don’t have time to answer her. At that very moment, the sky decides that courtesy and warnings are over.
A brutal, deafening roar shakes the cabin with savage force.
It’s not just any thunder; it’s a heart-wrenching roar that seems to split the Outback in two.
The wooden walls vibrate, the monitors flicker, and the ceiling lights suddenly go out, leaving us in darkness for an agonizing second before the red emergency light comes on, casting everything in an otherworldly glow.
The world falls into a deathly silence, broken only by the whistling of the wind. Ethan and Kira stare at each other with eyes wide as saucers, and I cling to the edge of the table, holding my breath.
The universe has just fired the starting gun, and the worst… is about to begin.