Shadows Rising (Darkness Falls Book 2)

Chapter Sixteen

For a moment I couldn't move. I felt like I was carved from ice, hollowed out and numb, unable to tear my eyes away from Luke's fallen form. The night was too dark and his hair was too black for me to see if he was bleeding. I willed myself to help him, but my legs were rooted to the ground.

The black-clad figure stood over Luke, hands on her hips. "Don't worry, he's not dead."

I wanted to snarl that I already knew that. Luke was the other half of my soul – I'd know if he was dead. But my tongue was as numb as the rest of me. I sent a savage mental signal to my legs that if they didn't start moving, I was going to chop them both off. They seemed to get the message, though not quite the way I wanted. My knees folded and I crumpled to the ground beside my fallen boyfriend. Gently I turned him over and eased his head onto my lap. My fingers fumbled through his hair. No blood, thank goodness, but the impact of the branch had left a nasty knot on the back of his skull.

"Why?" I whispered, tearing my eyes away from Luke's pale face to look at the figure standing over me. I still couldn't see her face beneath the hood. "Why are you doing this?"

The woman tossed back her head and laughed. I caught a fleeting glimpse of a full mouth and gleaming white fangs.

"Little Kiara Morrow," she hissed, and the hatred in her voice chilled me. "I've come to destroy you."

"Why?" Bewilderment surfaced amid the anger. I didn't recognise this woman's voice. In fact, I'd bet money I'd never met her before in my life, so why was she doing this? Why had she targeted me? What did she want?

The woman didn't say anything, but I could practically smell the self-satisfaction rolling off her.

"At least show me who you are instead of hiding your face like a coward," I snapped.

She wagged a finger at me as if I was a naughty child. Her fingernails were very long and sharpened to points like tiny daggers. "All in due time, little Kiara."

Any minute now she'd attack. I'd put myself in a vulnerable position, kneeling on the ground with Luke's head in my lap – if she came at me, I was defenceless. It wasn't the beating I was worried about – I'd taken enough of it during my time as a hunter, but I couldn't protect Luke like this. Right then that was the only thing I cared about.

She made a sudden move, stamping her foot down like she was about to charge. I flinched before I could stop myself. The woman sniggered. I wanted to reach under that black hood and claw her smug face off.

"Not this time, little Kiara. You and I will meet again, but that moment is one I shall savour." She drew in a deep breath like she could already taste it. "I'm looking forward to it more than I can tell you."

She stabbed a taloned finger at the sky. "The sun will be up soon so I'd better be going. You're welcome to chase me, but you won't catch me." She made an ugly noise of satisfaction deep in her throat. "And your beloved boyfriend will burn to a crisp while you're wasting your efforts."

She was gone so fast it was almost as if she had teleported. I wanted to chase her. I wanted it so badly my whole body ached, my teeth clenching until my jaw hurt. But whatever had happened and whatever else would happen, Luke came first. There was no question about that.

Desperately I cast about the woods. Out cold as he was, Luke was too heavy for me to carry, and I could hardly drag him all the way home. Even if I had time before the sun came up, someone was bound to see me and call the police. I could scream for help but that presented the same problem. And if someone didn't call the police, they'd call for an ambulance. That'd be great if Luke was human but, as a vampire, there was no way he could go to hospital. Even if he could miraculously avoid the sunlight, there were enough differences between vampires and humans for any doctor to start asking questions.