Nyght's Eve Read Online Free PDF Page A

paid staff, there seemed to be an
abundance of volunteers that seemed to pop in and out throughout the day. Some
of them came in to visit with certain animals, while others simply stopped in
to help out with whatever was needed. Dare found himself settling into the
rhythm of the work, but he was also getting frustrated with his inability to
accomplish what he was there for in the first place.
    Throughout the day he saw Evie all over the
place. But she was like the wind—there one minute, gone the next. The woman had
the energy of ten people, and seemed to be in charge of several projects, all
happening in different places at the same damn time. He’d catch a glimpse of her
feeding dogs one minute, but by the time he made it across the room, she was
outside training a class. He kept himself busy while he waited for the class to
end, but by that time she was helping out in the veterinarian clinic.
    By late afternoon, he finally gave up.
    Hunter had left to meet a client at the
tattoo parlor, and since a whole new set of volunteers stopped by to help out,
Dare decided he was finally free to take his run. However, he was sidetracked
once again as he heard a pain-filled cry as soon as he walked out of the
building. Reacting on instinct, he ran to the little girl sitting on the ground
who holding onto one of her knees. Blood trickled down her leg from beneath her
tiny fingers as she tried to staunch the wound. His stomach rolled at the sight
of the blood, but he forced himself to keep it together.
    Get
a grip, man. Focus!
    “What happened, honey?”
    She raised her tear-streaked face to his. “I
was trying to keep up with my brother and our friends, but they were too fast.”
    He glanced up and saw a group of teens
standing near the kennels outside. Whoever he was, the little girl’s brother
was oblivious to the accident. Dare silently promised to have a talk with the
kid was to make sure he took better care of his sister in the future.
    “Shh, now, let me see how bad it is,” Dare
said in a low soothing voice as he pried her hands away from her knee. He let
out a relieved sigh after he saw she had only scraped it on the concrete when
she fell.
    “It hurts!”
    “I know it hurts. Don’t worry. We’ll fix you
right up.” Dare lifted the girl into his arms just as one of the young women
who worked at the rescue center ran over to join them. She must have just
arrived as he hadn’t seen her earlier.
    “Carly! Oh my god, what happened? Is she
okay?” she asked, alarm filling her voice. It was difficult to hear the
question since the young girl had wrapped her arms around Dare’s neck and was
currently sobbing against where she had buried her face in the crook of his
neck.
    “She’ll be fine,” Dare said. “She just fell
and scratched up her knee a little.”
    “Should I get Dr. Savante?”
    Dare thought of the veterinarian that ran the
clinic and briefly considered handing over his wailing charge for a second
before he shook his head. “I got this. I’m assuming you have a first aid kit in
there?”
    Her gaze trailed toward the front door to the
animal clinic he had just nodded to, but she remained unconvinced. “Sure we do,
but—”
    “I’m a doctor. Dr. Daryk Nyght. I’m staying
over at the boarding house while I’m in town,” he said in response to her
skeptical look. He saw the relief on her face and she smiled at him.
    “Of course! I’ve heard all about you. Please,
follow me.”
    The young woman led them into the clinic,
straight through the waiting area to one of the smaller exam rooms. Dare tried
to pry the girl’s arms from around his neck, but young Carly continued to cling
to him like a little monkey. The woman’s lips twitched as she watched him
struggle with the girl. She set down a large first aid box on the table and backed
out of the room.
    “I know Carly’s brother, Miles. I’ll just go
get him.”
    “Hey, wait—” Dare scowled as he watched the
woman leave him alone with what he