“Dad is not going to like this.”
“Dad needs to get his head out of his ass and face the facts. This isn’t just a few earthquakes. You heard Cooper. This is a volcano. In Montana. The destruction could be widespread. Are we willing to let hundreds of people die to protect our way of life?”
Melinda stared at the two of them, confused. Their cryptic conversation made her head spin.
Isaiah turned toward Melinda. “You riding with us? Or do you want to follow?”
She nodded. “Guess I’m with you.” Did this seem idiotic? Perhaps. Were her mates going to kill her? Definitely. But her gut told her to stick with Wyatt and Isaiah, two strangers in disagreement with each other.
Two enormous strangers who were two of the tallest men she’d ever seen. She figured they were both nearly six and a half feet tall. And wide. Built. Huge. The taller one, Wyatt, wore his hair longer. Otherwise it would be difficult to tell them apart. At a whopping five feet, Melinda was completely dwarfed by them.
She swallowed as she climbed into the truck. Was she crazy?
“Melinda? Where the hell are you?”
Keegan’s voice in her head made her cringe. She’d left him standing in the crowd when she raced over to speak with Sharon. Now she was sitting between two men she didn’t know in a truck as they pulled out of the parking lot. Isaiah drove. “I’m heading up the mountain to warn the biology team.”
“What? Why? Please tell me you aren’t alone. Why didn’t you take me with you?”
“It happened fast. And no. I’m not alone.”
“Melinda, you’re being intentionally mysterious, hon. I don’t like it.”
“I’m with the two men who spoke in the auditorium, Keegan. I’m fine.”
“What?” His voice came through as such a loud scream, she flinched. “Are you crazy? You don’t even know those men.”
“I’m not the least bit crazy, Keegan. Calm down. You know I’m good at reading people. My gut said to follow this one.”
“My gut says you’ve lost your mind and I need to keep better tabs on you before you get yourself killed.”
Melinda smiled. “I’m not going to be harmed. I promise. And I’ll keep the line of communication open.”
“Melinda, dammit.” The new voice was Trace’s. “Are you shitting me?”
She sighed.
“Baby, we have people who could go up that mountain and find the biologists. You don’t need to do this.”
“Trace, this is my stomping ground. No one can reach that team faster than me. You know it. Now let me concentrate on this rescue while you do your job. You have to trust me. Both of you. I’m a grown woman. I know my limits.”
Both men projected exasperated sighs into her head.
She smiled. “Love you both. Relax.”
Wyatt turned to face her as she came back into herself. “Bet those mates of yours are reading you the riot act about now.” He smirked. “Can’t say I blame them. If you were mine, I’d shit a brick if you took off with two strangers in a truck.”
She breathed deeply, trying to figure out how these two brothers knew so much about her and her life.
Wyatt held up his hands as if in defeat. “Hey, don’t get me wrong. I totally understand your side. And you’re also right. You need to be with us right now. I know you’re the most sensitive shaman of your tribe. Your instincts have proven invaluable time and again. Isaiah and I don’t know this mountain as well as you. We’ll be counting on you to save our asses and everyone else’s.”
Melinda blinked up at him. “What are you?”
“You’ll see.”
»»•««
Cooper held his powerful binoculars up to his face and watched the plume of gas spewing into the air nearly a quarter mile away. As he’d expected, the earth opened up on the side of the mountain very close to the fracking site. When it blew, the land shook for nearly thirty seconds.
In actuality, the earth was still shaking, the low trembling beneath his feet indicative of a constant unrest.
He’d been in the middle of the fracking site when the first explosion occurred just north of them and had initially assisted in getting the workers organized and in their vehicles. After a few minutes, he’d turned the evacuation over to the site manager and retreated with his team to observe.
“What do you think?” Chuck asked.
“Not sure. It’s difficult to predict. The steam shooting into the sky could stop at any time or go on for years. And likewise, it’s hard to say if actual lava will flow out the side of the mountain, or even which side.” It was a long-winded answer to a vague question, but it was all he had. And the smell was horrific this close to the gaseous fumes. Sulphur filled the air.