No one appeared half as friendly as they did online, but why would they? After the outburst at CineVision a few weeks ago, I’dofficially become a rival. Olivia and her Wind Riders had stolen Twisted Fates’ opportunity at real fame.
One guy continued filming, the camera aimed in my direction as he narrated, “… rescued by the Ozinator in the nick of time. Don’t worry, folks. We take good care of strays. The audacity of Olivia Windrow leaving her inexperienced brother behind. For shame.”
If I was a different person, I might have stuck up for my sister, but my throat closed, and I sat in petrified silence as reality sank in. Olivia abandoned me.
Someone lowered a window, and the cameraman turned the lens on the storm. The diversion did nothing to calm me. What was happening? Why was I here and not with Olivia?
For a few minutes, everyone was too busy staring at the storm, shouting over one another as the driver took us to a safer location. With my heart beating too loudly inside my head and my skin shrink-wrapped to my bones, I caught snippets of conversation not swallowed by the roaring wind or thunder of rain and hail hitting the roof. Chatter about the funnel dissipating, no tornado, and mentions of a lost probe.
“Fucking bullshit,” someone said. “We were so close. I was sure it was coming down.”
I glanced at Ozrik and startled to find he wasn’t looking out the window with the rest of his crew and was instead staring at me. A devil-may-care gleam shone in his eyes.
“You look a little freaked out, Dorothy.”
I shook my head, but my cheeks blazed under his scrutiny, and I was sure he saw all the shameful fantasies I’d indulged in over the past few nights where he played the shining knight.
How appropriate, considering he’d rescued me.
“Cat got your tongue?”
Making my voice as steady as I could, I asked, “Why are you doing this?”
Ozrik’s smile grew. “Why do I chase tornadoes?” He grabbed the front of his jeans and squeezed. “It gives me a raging hard-on. Why doyouchase tornadoes?”
Mortified, eyes widening, I stammered, “That’s not what I meant, and I don’t chase tornadoes.”
“Then why were you standing in the field? No offense, but you don’t seem to belong.”
No one knew that more than me. I wanted to say,I’m here because Olivia made me.Because I don’t know how to say no to her.
In light of her abandonment, I said nothing.
I clutched my camera with a white-knuckle grip, revisiting the odd emotions that had risen so unexpectedly in the field. How had I gotten so distracted?
The weight of Ozrik’s attention made me want to crawl out of my skin. “I… I was taking pictures.” The answer was lame. “I work for a magazine… sometimes.”
Once, but he didn’t have to know that.
“Really? I didn’t know that.” He sounded impressed, but I was probably misreading him.
My nerves danced under Ozrik’s scrutiny. I breathed as shallowly as I could, forcing a calm I didn’t feel, so maybe he wouldn’t see how rattled I was on the inside.
“Are you all right?” His tone softened, but I stayed alert. I had long ago trained myself not to trust false platitudes. They were usually a trap.
“Why did you kidnap me?”
Ozrik laughed. “Kidnap you? Dude, I didn’t kidnap you. I fucking rescued you from imminent danger. Didn’t you see that funnel coming down? What are you, a virgin?”
My skin caught fire. “W-hat?”
“A chase virgin. Was this your first time out?”
“Oh… Um…” Motion caught my eye. His buddies had finished admiring the storm and were listening to our conversation, no doubt registering the high color in my cheeks. “Yes.”
Worse, the camera guy had refocused on me. Was he recording?
My lungs shrank. “Chasing tornadoes is Olivia’s thing. She made me come.”