Free Thunder Road (Rain Chaser Book 1) by Sierra Dean Page A

eased my grip on the tire iron but kept the metal bar raised. I didn’t know what was setting my inner alarm bells off, but it paid to be vigilant.
    “Manea?” Cade asked.
    I shook my head, scanning the barren highway. We hadn’t seen a single car since we’d pulled over, which now that I thought about it was pretty strange, even for a road that wasn’t a massive interstate. Surely a semi would have passed by now, or at least one or two other cars, right?
    “Manea’s power feels different,” I explained. “Colder.”
    Not that this sensation was exactly warm and fuzzy, but it didn’t have the same cool, clammy unease the presence of Death did. That didn’t mean I wasn’t unnerved by whatever this was though. It was familiar, but not so much I could name it, like something I should know but couldn’t put my finger on.
    Cade, too, was apparently struggling to make sense of it.
    “I should finish changing the tire.”
    I nodded, but my eyes stayed locked on the highway, waiting for something to come around the bend at any moment. A ruffle of wing beats drew my attention up, and I spotted a crow flying overhead right before it landed on the guardrail near me. Its beady black eyes trained on me, full of intelligence and maybe the tiniest bit of condescension.
    Crows are smart.
    But this was no normal crow.
    “Badb.” Just when I thought Cade was going to be the worst omen I’d encounter on this trip. Bad luck was one thing. Badb luck was a whole other kettle of stinking, rotten fish.
    The crow cocked its head, and its eyes gleamed. It stretched its wings, nipping at a feather and preening until it shone glossily in the dying light. It cawed at me, catching Cade’s notice.
    He glanced at it, then did a double take before coming to his feet. Badb and Cade knew each other well . I’m pretty sure she was secretly bitter about him being bound to Ardra instead of her. Their paths were similar, and Cade would have fit well beneath Badb’s wing. Which I think she reminded him of often.
    The bird made a creaky gargling sound and cawed twice.
    I glanced around, wondering if her sisters were lurking anywhere, but bless the gods she appeared to be by herself. Badb was one thing. I didn’t also need the burden of dealing with the rest of the Morrigan.
    Seemingly satisfied that she had our attention, she began to flap her wings wildly. I choked up on the tire iron, though I wasn’t going to use it to lay the smackdown on a goddess. I’d be better off just killing myself.
    As she flapped her wings, her figure expanded, growing taller and wider. The wings transformed into a long cloak of feathers with a high collar framing her now-human face. She wore a crown of bird bones with a crow skull resting at the center of her forehead. Her skin was pale and similar in shade to an opal, shifting from rose to blue hues depending on the light. Her hair was a shade of red I’d never seen on a human, deep garnet, like a ruby, and glowing with inner flame.
    She was something to behold, terrible and beautiful and simmering with quiet menace. Her two sisters, Macha and Nemain, were equally fierce, but not as common to see. At least not stateside. Together they were harbingers of war. Badb also foreshadowed carnage and grisly death.
    So you can imagine how stoked I was to see her when I knew Manea was biting at our heels.
    “Rain Chaser.” Her voice reminded me of dry leaves skittering through a graveyard. It was chilling and somehow managed to convey the inevitability of death in every syllable.
    I bet she was a hoot at parties.
    “Badb of the Morrigan. Your presence honors us.” I bowed my head in a sign of respect. Next to me, Cade gave a curt nod but let my greeting speak for us both, like he didn’t trust what he might say if he opened his mouth.
    Badb waved a hand, dismissing the formalities. “You’re causing quite a stir, Tallulah. The winds are atwitter with your name.”
    I wasn’t sure I needed the wind or anyone else