Alix (The Coven's Grove Chronicles #1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

feet, and walked her over to the sofa.
    Sam clung to her like a child afraid of the dark.
    That’s when Alix noticed the blood. It was splattered across Sam’s face in the shape of a wedge, as if it had been sprayed by a high-pressure hose. What the hell? Alix thought. She’d never seen her friend like this before. “Were you mugged? Are you all right? What happened?”
    Her friend’s only answer was more sobs.
    Alix helped Sam onto the couch, then hurried to the kitchen. She poured a cup of coffee from the pot she’d made earlier. She popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. Her gaze lingered on Sam. She wasn’t sure what her friend had gone through, but she knew for a fact it hadn’t been good.
    The timer dinged for the coffee.
    Alix grabbed the mug out of the microwave, and immediately regretted it. The heat seared her hand, and she jerked away. A dark smear crossed the cup where she’d touched it. She slowly turned her hands over to see the blood covering her palms. It must have come from Sam. Her stomach rolled, and she staggered to the sink to put her hands under the faucet. After scrubbing the blood away, Alix grabbed a towel, and turned back toward Sam.
    Her friend sat shivering, eyes darting every-which-way.
    “Are you cut?” Alix asked, amazed at the amount of blood. She grabbed her cell phone, as she left the kitchen. “Dammit Sam, are you cut?!”
    Sam shook her head.
    Alix sat down next to her rattled friend, and offered her the cup of coffee. “I think we need to call the police.”
    Sam took the mug, but didn’t drink from it. She looked over at Alix, terror evident in her eyes. “They can’t help.”
    “What do you mean?” Alix frowned. “What happened to you?”
    The tears that streamed from Sam’s eyes had made her mascara run down her cheeks in two straight lines. Combined with her disheveled hair, and the blood, she looked like a deranged clown from one of those bad horror flicks. “They’re all dead,” she whispered.
    “The police?!” Alix’s brows rose in disbelief. “I don’t think—”
    “At the shop!” Sam screamed. “Everybody at the shop is dead!” Coffee splashed out of the mug, as Sam came to her feet. “We gotta get out of here!”
    “Whoa, hang on a minute!” Alix managed. The thought of everyone at the shop being dead was a bit much for her to believe. She patted the sofa where Sam had been sitting. “You need to slow down, and tell me what happened.”
    Sam looked ready to bolt. She clutched the coffee mug so tightly, Alix thought it might shatter in her hands. “You don’t get it. I just came from there, and those… things were chasing me. They’re probably at the door right now!” Sam’s expression distorted into a silent cry of horror. Her eyes cut to the door, and she sank to her knees for the second time, whimpering.
    Alix had never seen someone paralyzed by fear before, but she figured Sam was experiencing it full on at that moment. The poor girl was delirious. Alix began pressing numbers on her cell. “I’m calling the police.”
    Sam slowly shook her head. “It won’t matter.”
    The thin line of light that peeked under the door from the hallway darkened, as something passed by out in the hall. It came to a stop just in front of the door. Sam froze.
    Two sharp knocks broke the sudden silence.
    Alix stopped pressing numbers, and got to her feet.
    “They’re here,” Sam whispered.
    “Dammit Sam,” Alix hissed. “Stop it, you’re freakin’ me out.” She stepped around her frozen friend, and headed for the door. Something wrapped around her ankle, causing her to stumble to a halt. “Crap!”
    Sam gripped Alix’s leg like a vice. “Don’t open the door.”
    Alix knelt. “It’s gonna be all right Sam. Relax.” She pried Sam’s steely grip open, and scooted away. “We’re gonna figure this thing out.” She went to the door, pressed her hands against it, took a deep breath, and slowly put her eye to the