Austin's Lost Bride (The Sterns) Read Online Free PDF Page A

rapid order a lot of the ordinary and everyday but implausible things that could have delayed her. Hunters just don’t get hit by cars or mugged, he thought. Something supernatural had stopped Rebecca from being here and that meant Mannus.
    Austin shook at the thought that Rebecca might be in danger. The thought of her taken again by Mannus was unbearable, but he couldn’t think of anything else it could be. Rebecca could handle any ordinary threats, but supernatural ones could overwhelm a lone hunter. That’s why they always stalked vampires in groups of two or three.
    The sun was still up and Mannus couldn’t have taken her himself. That meant thralls. His team had killed several yesterday and Rebecca took out a few more. The fight last night claimed even more. How many did Mannus have in Detroit with him?
    He remembered the alarm he felt outside earlier, and went cold when he realized where he was. This was a safe house. Mannus shouldn’t have been able to find them here. He started to think he was overreacting because of how he still felt for her.
    Safe houses were secure. That was the whole point of them. It had been nearly thirty years since a hunter had been lost at a compromised safe house. Since that incident, the whole safe house system was reworked to be more secure. No one knew all of them and there were several in every major city. None had ever been discovered while in use. But Rebecca had broken the rules and left seen. She hadn’t veiled like she should have. Still, the idea that the house was compromised or that a thrall just happened to be driving by and noticed her walking began to seem more far-fetched and his idea that she was in danger began to wane.
    Maybe she had gone solo again .
    The attack was so clumsy that he didn’t even need his hunter instinct to warn him. The screeching tires gave it away without any need for his abilities. His body hit the floor before the first bullets broke through the living room glass and he started to crawl toward his weapons but it was over before he made it five feet. People were screaming outside and he heard the car race away.
    His throat went dry and he thought about Rebecca. Now he knew. She was in danger and he needed to get out fast. He had to find her before it was too late. He wouldn’t let Mannus take another person he loved.
    Light streamed through the broken window and a crowd was already gathering, calling out to him, asking if he was all right. Someone shouted out that police would be there soon.
    He ran back into the house and grabbed his bag, thankful that he had at least put some of his stuff together, and then he headed over to Rebecca’s room. Her dagger was too important to leave behind. Even if it didn’t have the same power in his hands, he couldn’t leave it. He wasn’t sure that the oil she prepared was finished but he grabbed it anyway. Sirens were getting closer.
    He started moving out the house again when he noticed it on the floor wedged against the wall opposite the shattered window. Paper wrapped around what looked like a dud gas shell. He tore the paper off without looking at it. Police had just pulled up outside. He needed to get out now and he started mentally preparing himself for a veil. He flew through the back door into the yard. A few logs were still uncut and he grabbed two of them and put them by the back of the fence.
    Police had entered the house, and before they had a chance to see him, he threw up his veil. The world instantly went out of focus and he could only see the jagged outlines of objects before him. He could hear the police calling out, still moving through the house. Through the veil he was unable to see the house clearly but the back door hadn’t opened again, so he was still alone in back. Grabbing his bag he tossed it over the fence, not caring that it would become visible when it left him, then he climbed onto the logs he put down and jumped the fence.
    No one noticed as the bag disappeared again when