Hunter's Fall Read Online Free PDF

of her stomach drop out. The look in his eyes, it nearly froze her to the bone. She closed her eyes and reached out, extending her mind until it brushed up against Mei-Lin’s. She sensed the younger witch, sensed her surprise as Mei-Lin felt Nessa’s presence.
    She gave the nonverbal equivalent of Shhh . . . it’s okay. Just wanted to check on you . And that she did—the girl was most definitely in the theater, as were her friends.
    Feeling a bit reassured, she opened her eyes and focused on Malachi’s face. “Mei-Lin will be here shortly. It’s her birthday and she’s gone to the pictures.” She paused and took a deep breath. “She was to have a friend spend the night, but I guess I should reschedule that.”
    Malachi just watched her.
    “She’ll be cross with me,” Nessa said, forcing a smile.
    “She’s a good lass. She’ll understand.”
    “Hmmm. Perhaps. Although if I knew whatever the trouble was, it might make it easier to explain, wouldn’t you agree?”
     
     
    T HEY left Nessa’s small house to drive to the theater. Malachi wouldn’t go for remaining at the house. Truthfully, Nessa was glad he came along, and not just because it was amusing to watch as the big vampire forced his large body into the front seat of her Ford Fusion.
    “I’d have more room in a tin can, love.”
    “Oh, nonsense. Besides, you can’t drive a tin can.” She started the car and backed up, zipping along the roads with careless speed.
    “You can’t crash a tin can, either,” Malachi muttered, maintaining a white-knuckled grip on the doorframe.
    Plastic cracked and she shot him a disapproving glance. “If you make a mess of my car, vampire, I’ll have your arse.”
    She could almost see how much it took for him to ease up. “How did you get any sort of license, driving like this?” He gave her a sour look. “You didn’t magic some fool into it, did you?”
    “Of course not.” Nessa smiled serenely. “I don’t have a license.”
    She checked the opposite lane of the narrow two-lane highway and darted around a semi, grinning as the driver laid on the horn when she squeezed in front of him.
    “Fuck me,” Malachi mumbled. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the back of the passenger seat. “Damn good thing I’m not mortal—you’d give me a heart attack.”
    As they neared the interstate, she reached over and patted the white-knuckled fist he had resting on his knee. “You worry too much, my friend. Turning into a boring old fusspot.”
    He shot her a narrow glance. “Very few people would dare call me a fusspot.”
    She opened her mouth but the words locked in her throat.
    Blood roared in her ears. She barely had the presence of mind to pull the car onto the narrow shoulder before she wrecked it. Her hands shook, cold and clammy on the steering wheel.
    “Mal . . .”
    It came as a cold wind.
    Death. Uncaring, unstoppable.
    Malachi felt it as well—she could tell by the tight expression on his face, the blue light glowing in his eyes.
    She shot him a dazed look. For a few short moments, she could hardly breathe.
    The sound of her mobile phone buzzing hit like a fist, stealing the breath from her lungs. She grabbed it, recognizing Mei-Lin’s picture on the display.
    “Nessa, hey, you didn’t answer the home phone.”
    “Mei-Lin, what’s wrong?”
    “Oh, nothing.” Then she paused.
    In the background, Nessa could hear the girls talking and their voices lacked the excited, happy tone from earlier. Then Mei-Lin sighed and said, “Kim ran into this guy she was dating at the theater. He started being a real jerk and I told him to back off. He started yelling at me and some guy in the row in front of us told him to back off and then . . .” Her voice trailed off. She was quiet for a minute and then said, “Kim just wanted to leave. So we left. I wanted to let you know we’d be there soon and—”
    There was a scream.
    A crash.
    And Nessa felt it as death came in and claimed yet more