“Then why does Lucius know?”
“Lucius just thinks he knows. He doesn’t. Trust me. When you’re older and if you have to deal with this shit, you’ll know. And you’ll regret it, okay?”
He grumbled and sat back down. He shot a glance to Laura and his demeanor brightened the slightest bit.
The silence became more than awkward. Laura coughed.
“So, where’s Stella?” The question that had been on my lips from the moment I walked in the door finally broke free.
“She went for a ride.” Teddy turned to look out the window. “Shit. I didn’t realize that was thunder I was hearing. I thought it was—”
“Your bed busting through the wall, stallion?” I needed to break the tension. Teddy was worth protecting and I didn’t want him to feel like I did—caught in an unfair trap.
He smiled, blushing. “Something like that.”
I followed his gaze out into the downpour.
Fuck. If Stella was out in this, she’d be soaked through and lucky if she avoided the hail. The temperature was dropping now that the cold front was moving through. I needed to find her. Fast.
“She was heading to the levee, if that helps,” Teddy said.
“It does. Thanks, Ted. Sorry for the interruption.”
I swung the door closed. As I hit the stairs, the rhythm began wafting from his room again.
I dashed to the garage and started my car. The rain was a milky barrier and the hail pinged off the luxury vehicle. It was painful hearing the damage, but I was too worried to care. I broke through the sheets of opaque water and raced down the slick drive into the back part of the estate. I contemplated driving down toward the levee, but realized if I did and she’d gone off in the woods, I wouldn’t be able to find her. I pulled up into the stables and killed the engine.
I hoped she was inside, warm and dry, waiting for the rain to stop. I ran down the stalls, looking for her. She wasn’t there, and the mare Gloria was gone. Something unsettling and queasy swirled in my stomach. It was a feeling I wasn’t very familiar with, not anymore. Fear.
Shadow whinnied at a particularly loud blast of thunder and stomped his disapproval. The tack room door was open and a saddle was missing. I wasted no time getting my horse saddled and ready. He stood calmly as the thunder rumbled, as if desperate to get out for a ride, storm be damned.
“It’s going to be a wet trip.” I climbed into the saddle and spurred him out of the stables and into the rain. At least the hail had stopped.
The droplets stung as I urged Shadow into the deluge. We set a hellish pace. It wasn’t simply raining, the sky was jettisoning the water, throwing it forcefully earthward. Lightning split the sky above us, the flash and resulting sound making Shadow rear.
“Steady. Steady, boy.” I held onto the reins for dear life and eased him back down. “Keep it together.” I ran my hand along his nape, smoothing his mane as the rain soaked through me, the jacket doing nothing against the onslaught.
He resumed a moderate gallop, and I guided him onto the road as the grass along the sides became muck. It was harder on his hooves, but made it easier for him to maneuver, so he picked up his pace. I felt as if I were racing the clock—a burning need to get to Stella had settled deep in my gut.
What was she thinking going for a ride alone? If she wanted to ride she should have asked me. I would have taken her. Now, she’d gotten herself into a mess. Even as I silently berated her, that same queasy fear overcame my ire.
I saw movement in the gloomy sheets of rain ahead. A horse. My heart rose. I pulled back on the reins. I could lead Stella back to the stables and get her warmed up in no time. I ignored the intense relief that settled over me and squinted against the wall of water. A gust of wind pushed the watery curtain aside for a split second. My heart sank.
Fuck.
Gloria emerged from the downpour and flew past us, back toward the stables. She was riderless and beyond spooked. My momentary reprieve sent me into an even deeper state of panic once I realized it was nothing more than a mirage. Stella was somewhere out in the storm.
My thoughts came in a torrent to match the deluge all around me. Teddy said she went toward the levee. Where would she have wandered?
“Faster, Shadow.” I dug my heels in and he shot forward.
I ignored the bite of the water droplets lashing my face. The cold was seeping into my pores, leeching away my body heat as I urged Shadow forward. The streaking lightning and rolling thunder became just another part of the blur of scenery. We were full gallop, a breakneck pace, racing into the heart of the raging storm.