Todd tossed a wooded chair at the circle, but the chair bounced back in a spray of blue sparks.
“Shaney!” Todd screamed as the blue sparks wound over Shaney’s body, diving beneath his skin and reappearing like neon snakes. Shaney’s guttural cry rent through the droning hum and echoed with an excruciating, end-of-life admonition. He felt as if the energy was ripping his cells apart. This could only end one way. He was going to die. He closed his eyes and focused on moving his legs and regaining control of his body. Behind his eyelids, thin, charged, blue threads dashed chaotically about. Shaney wondered, if he grabbed one, would the thread shock him. He imagined reaching out with his mind, then gasped, as one by one, the streams started to organize themselves into a complex pattern much like the ones around the room.
Shaney’s eyes popped open when the pounding grew louder. Todd was still trying to break through whatever invisible force separated them. When Todd looked up, he took a dazed step backwards. “Fuck, Shaney. Your eyes!”
In that instant, the front door crashed open and a dark figure slammed into Shaney, propelling him out of the circle and into the wall. Shaney cried out as pain exploded across his shoulder and he was pinned to the wall by the large figure. In seconds, strong arms slung him over a shoulder and he was hanging upside down.
It was possible Shaney passed out because the next thing he knew, he was laying on a hard, cold surface. Moisture seeped into his clothes, chilling his back. Cold drops spattered his skin.
“Shaney. Come on. Open your eyes.” There was a light tap on his cheek and he groaned. God, everything hurt. Another tap. “Please, Shaney look at me,” a familiar voice pleaded.
Shaney cracked his eyes open slightly, and then blinked. Bright lights illuminated Hudson’s face, pulled into its usual tight grimace. The shell-shocked look in Hudson’s dark eyes stole Shaney’s breath and cramped his gut. Drops of water covered Hudson’s face and dripped from the ends of his short hair. When had the rain started? Hudson hovered so close that, if Shaney lifted his head an inch, he could have kissed him. As if reading Shaney’s mind, Hudson pulled back.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Hudson’s panic-laced voice comforted Shaney. He might even be able to pretend Hudson gave a crap.
Shaney nodded, but then shook his head, rattled by the entire experience.
Behind Hudson, Todd hovered, wringing his hands, fear etched on his face. Shaney tried to give him a smile to convey he was okay, but he couldn’t manage it.
“What the hell happened?” Shaney directed the question to Todd, but Hudson answered.
“You were electrocuted,” Hudson ground out, anxiously checking over Shaney’s body.
“What?” Shaney and Todd asked at the same time.
Hudson narrowed his eyes. “You were lit up like a friggin’ sparkler on the Fourth of July. What the fuck did you think was happening? Lightning has been striking this area for the past fifteen minutes.”
Shaney searched his memory for anything that lined up with what Hudson claimed. Except for the phantom tingling, as if he’d stuck his finger into a light socket, not much made sense.
“But we were inside,” Shaney protested.
Hudson sat back where he kneeled next to Shaney, signed heavily, and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “Discharge from lightning can travel through wiring, water pipes, phone lines. Don’t you ever watch the Weather Channel?” How quickly his concern had morphed into annoyance.
“There’s no electricity or plumbing way out here,” Todd pointed out hastily.
With his dark eyes still focused on Shaney, Hudson replied, “This cabin is wired for a generator and has water pumped up from the pond for the sink and the toilet. I know because I’m the one who did it all. You were probably standing over a pipe or wires running beneath the floor.”
Sure, that kind of made sense. Yet Todd’s expression told Shaney that he wasn’t buying that bridge Hudson was selling. The furrowed concentration on Todd face as his gaze darted about, told Shaney he was processing everything that had happened.
The cold from the rain and the ground shook Shaney’s body, mingling with the remnants of tingly electricity. When his teeth started to clatter together, Hudson’s eyes softened ever so slightly. “Can you get up?”
Shaney did a mental check of his body. Every inch ached, throbbed, and tingled with pins and needles. A metallic taste filled his mouth. Probably fried his old fillings.
Lightning? So nothing supernatural?
“I’ll take your silence as a no.” Hudson’s voice broke the silence as he scooped Shaney up like a rag doll and set him on his feet. Shaney thrashed at the sudden move and gripped Hudson’s jacket to steady himself. Hudson’s arm wrapped tight around Shaney’s back.