Darkness Fades (Darkness Falls Series, Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

blazes across the sky.
    Seconds later, rain showers down, splashing
against my face and soaking my hair. “Follow me. I know a place
that’ll keep us out of the rain.” I motion Nichelle to follow me as
I turn around and start to descend the cliffy hillside.
    “Why are you here anyway?” I call out over
the thunder as I maneuver myself over the edge of the rock and then
drop down onto the ledge. Surprisingly, she easily slides down to
the side of me.
    “I am looking for someone,” she tells me as
our feet sink into the dirt and rocks. “A girl named Kayla. Maybe
you know her?” she calls out over the rain, shielding her hand over
her eyes.
    I tense, but keep my composure, knowing
better than to let her know who I am. Not until she tells me why
she’s here. “I think I know who she is. Why are you looking for
her, though?”
    She eyes me over with a questioning look. I
start to wonder if she might know more than she’s letting on; if
she knows I’m Kayla. “I’m here to help her,” she says with a brief
pause before continuing, “to help her save the world.”

Chapter 5

    For a second I don’t think I’ve heard her
right, but as I replay her words over and over again, I realize
that I did.
    But how does she know?
    I jump down from the ledge and land
gracefully on the loose ground below. Nichelle drops her pack,
squats down and then swings her legs over the ledge. She grasps the
edge then lowers her body slowly over until she’s half way down and
then lets go. She lands on her feet in the dirt beside me, her
boots scuffing against the loose rocks.
    “You seem comfortable moving around,” I tell
her, knowing it’s a weird statement, but still. When Aiden was
human he couldn’t maneuver around like that. If I didn’t know any
better, I’d guess Nichelle was a Day Taker; however, she has a
heartbeat.
    She shrugs as she dusts the dirt and mud off
her hands. “I have had years of training.” She stretches her arm
back up in the direction of the ledge and grabs her bag.
    Training? “Are you a Bellator?” I ask
her as I start to hike to the bottom of the slope.
    She gapes at me as she puts her bag back on.
“A what?”
    “A Bellator… they were the people who
trained at my Colony.”
    “Well, at my Colony, I’m called a
Protector.”
    It seems the same to me, and the idea that
they have titles at Nichelle’s colony makes me question just how
different hers is from mine, which makes me instantly put my guard
up once more.
    I try to keep quiet the rest of our journey
down the hill. When I reach the bottom, I nod my head in the
direction of the cave. “This way.”
    She follows me as rain continues to drench
us and the grey sky lights up with silver blazes of lightning. We
don’t say a word to each other as we hike towards the cave. I’m
getting tenser with every step, wondering if I should simply hit
her over the head and knock her out to avoid any mishaps. However,
before I can come up with a plan, Maci comes sprinting around the
corner hill.
    “Kayla!” she cries out. When she reaches me,
she throws her arms around my waist. “I knew you didn’t leave us.”
I stiffen because she just let out my secret; said my name. Before
I can respond, Maci releases me and turns towards Nichelle. “And
you found her.”
    “Yes, I guess I did,” Nichelle says. I gape
at Maci because it seems like she knows Nichelle.
    “What do you mean, you found her?” I ask as
the rain simmers down to a drizzle. “You knew Nichelle was looking
for me?”
    Maci nods her head up and down vigorously.
“I did.”
    I never know how to react to Maci’s strange
behavior, so I don’t respond. Instead, I lead her and Nichelle
around the hill to the flat area just below the cave. By the time
we get there, the rain has stopped, though the thunder and
lightning still echo across the sky.
    Greyson is sitting in the cave’s entrance
with a fire glowing beneath the shelter. He has what look like a
dead lizard in his hand. He