Hearts of the Hunted Read Online Free PDF Page B

been
doused.
    "That's like a magic
trick," I said, twirling one remaining wisp around my finger and
tucking it in for her. I'd always been a bit of a tomboy, so my
default hairstyle when it had been longer was 'ponytail', and I'd
cut it short when I'd had to run, keeping it that way ever since.
"Can you do it again?"
    Hannah turned and rolled
her eyes at me. "I can do it as often as I want, but it's getting
dark out, and we wouldn't want to waste all of that hard work I put
into making you pretty."
    I made a face, but when I
stepped past her to the door, I couldn't help flashing a secret
smile at the thought that she'd called me pretty. This was getting
pathetic.
    She hung back, good as her
word, and watched me cross the street and head into downtown. From
there, I couldn't acknowledge her unless I wanted to blow
everything. I wanted to look back—to check on her—but I kept my
eyes forward and my expression as blank and vapid as I
could.
    I smiled into lit
storefronts, wandered through dark shadows and past open alleys,
and even paused in front of the alley where Hannah had been
attacked, pretending to fix my shoe strap. I glanced back, and even
from across the street I could see her shudder when I hesitated
there, but nothing untoward happened, and I carried on.
    Two hours later, I was so
exhausted that I wanted to curl up on the sidewalk and take a nap.
Jogging through the woods for hours could never have prepared me
for the terrible ordeal of walking up and down downtown in three
inch heels. My feet, legs, and back felt as if I had dipped them in
acid. It took all of my willpower to maintain an upright carriage
and continue walking. I was actually starting to hope that the guy
attacked me soon, just so I could take the fucking shoes
off.
    As it turned out, though,
I wasn't the one he attacked. I was already well past the mouth of
a dark alley when I heard someone say, in a quiet, controlled
voice, "Stop. Be quiet and come with me." The clacking of heels
that I had been mostly ignoring behind me stopped, and my heart
stuttered in my chest. I raised my arm to signal Hannah and ran for
the alley.
    Halfway down the alley, a
man in dark clothes was dragging a blonde by the arm. She moved
stiffly, as if she'd been drugged, but she didn't make any effort
to resist him, and I felt chilled to the core. If I called for
help, he had only to speak to me, and I'd be just as helpless. My
only hope lay in surprising him.
    Unfortunately, I was
wearing three-inch heels, and I found my normal stealth impossible.
He turned as I started to clack down the mouth of the alley, and
his eyes fastened on mine as he barked, "Stop." I did, freezing in
place. Why had I ever wanted to move in the first place? This was a
very good place to stand. I felt like I could stand in that place
forever.
    The blonde in his grip
raised one hand to her head, turning to me with a puzzled
expression on her face.
    "He's going to rape you,"
I said.
    Her eyes went wide, and
she tried to step back, her breath rising to a frightened squeak
when she was caught up short by his hand, gripped tight around her
upper arm.
    "Shut up," he snarled at
me, and I closed my lips tightly over my teeth. Why are people
always talking, anyway?
    The blonde started to
scream, and he slapped her to make her stop. "You shut up, too," he
said, but he looked worried, and I suddenly found that I was moving
again, my mouth opening in a snarl. So, he could only control one
of us at a time.
    The woman's mouth shut
with a click of teeth as she bit off the beginnings of a fresh
scream. I slammed into him an instant later, and then Hannah was
behind me, gathering the woman into her arms and pushing her away,
telling her to run as the rapist and I hit the dirty ground
together.
    I grabbed hold of him, but
he punched me and shoved away. I saw stars as my head snapped back,
but my fingers tightened reflexively, and he made a pained sound as
he jerked free. He started to reach for me, but Hannah