Eternal Dawn Read Online Free PDF Page A

for her in the blade.
    ‘Fire?’
    I waited, hopeful that her face might appear and begin speaking to me, but the metal remained silver.
    I replaced the weapons, clicked the lock and dropped the trunk key in my boot. I checked the clock.
    Rhode
.
    His name came through my mind like a prayer. Fire’s words came too.
    I don’t think he will ever remember his past.
    Time to find him.

C HAPTER 4
    Tracy was right. A barn now stood at the back of the main lacrosse field. Running parallel to it were plots of land sectioned off by a wooden fence. The sheer familiarity of
growing greens, and the unmistakable fluffy mint plant made me smile, just for a brief moment. It could have been home – well, if it wasn’t for the little motorized tractor waiting at
the end of the farm. Oh, and electricity. I stopped next to the barn, crossed my arms and relished the green vines of the tomato plants and small pumpkins growing in bunches. My parents would have
run from plant to plant overjoyed by the selection. I touched the pendant around my neck; it had warmed in the morning sunlight.
    Someone is coming closer to me. No, they are jumping at me. I’m being attacked! Bring your hands up! Protect your face!
My body tried to catch up with my thoughts.
    Male. Black T-shirt, black hair.
    There was a shove to my chest, and I flew backward. My head smacked the ground and pops of light burst before my eyes. I barely had time to raise my hands against my attacker.
    I inhaled a scent like amber resin and nights by dripping candle wax.
    Rhode.
    Anywhere you will go, I will go.
    Those words Rhode had once spoken to me echoed in my mind. He stood above me and radiated the same protective aura I had loved for so long. He spoke to me but was investigating the wall of the
barn,
    ‘You could have been hurt. They’re getting more and more reckless.’ He paused. ‘Archers,’ he added with a growl.
    My ears perked up. I had dreamt of Rhode’s voice, of the way it would sound if I ever heard it again. It was so familiar and deep, and yet the dips and emphasis on certain syllables were
different to the way they had been before. I had to remind myself this was the Rhode of the modern world, with no memory of his life as a vampire.
    From my spot on the ground, I followed the length of his outstretched arm.
    An arrow with a red fletching, or tail as it were, stuck out of the wood of the barn. But I couldn’t concentrate on the arrow. Rhode’s beauty left me speechless. His hair was
cropped, in a
modern
style. He moved so easily. I must have just sat there staring, but I didn’t care.
    Rhode leaned closer, investigating the wooden shaft of the arrow. Blood pulsed through his veins and hair grew on his arms. For hundreds of years Rhode was forced to stay out of the sunlight.
And now . . . he was
tanned.
I followed the bronze skin of his arm to the tips of his fingers now pulling at the end of the arrow.
    With my heart nearly exploding, I remained on the ground, waiting for him to look at me. I nearly passed out from the anticipation. His blue eyes focused intently on the arrow and I gulped. It
stuck out of the wall right where my head had been.
    ‘Wait . . .’ he said, and snatched the arrow out. ‘This isn’t a Wickham arrow,’ he mumbled. ‘Who would use a razor-head tip? Lunatics.’
    He looked down at me. His jaw dropped and he backed away.
    ‘
You
,’ he said. He dropped his voice. ‘The girl in red.’
    Excitement shot through me.
    ‘Me?’
    His lips parted as he studied me. He shook his head and resumed speaking as if he hadn’t just stopped mid-sentence to call me ‘the girl in red’ – whatever that meant.
    ‘I mean, are you . . . are you all right?’ he stuttered. He reached down and his hand gripped mine. After he had helped me up, our hands lingered in one another’s.
    ‘I think so,’ I said. His grasp was strong, comforting.
    Rhode focused on the ground. ‘I’m glad.’
    ‘How did you see it fly through the air so