Paranormals (Book 2): We Are Not Alone Read Online Free PDF Page B

scrambling around with his legs, trying to keep the rogue’s tail from sliding into place across his chest. He managed to work his right arm through the coils, but that was it. He kicked backward, reaching over his shoulder with his free hand, kept turning his head left and right as if desperate to see his attacker, but the snake-man’s torso pressed against his back, adding more pressure to his abdomen.
    “Leave ... leave him alone!” Kimberly called. She tried to stand up, but after all that running, her legs weren’t anxious to work again so soon. Her left thigh was threatening her with a Charley Horse, and both calves were trembling. If only she hadn’t been so distracted by her rescuer’s silly Halloween costume, she would’ve warned him about the storm drains!
    The rogue twisted his neck around until he was facing her, a corkscrewing endeavor that nauseated as much as terrified her. His mouth opened, and it took her a moment to realize he was trying to smile. “Hiiim ... then yooou ...” he hissed.
    Kimberly redoubled her effort to stand.
    The snake-man laughed at her, extended a pair of dripping fangs, then whirled and sunk those horrible teeth into Vortex’s neck.
    Except they didn’t sink into his neck. They dug in only a fraction of an inch before stopping, and one of them snapped under the pressure.
    The rogue roared and spat in pain, shook his head, then flexed his tail muscles with such force, Kimberly heard an audible pop! as Vortex’s right shoulder wrenched from its socket. Unlike his opponent, Vortex swallowed most of his strangled anguish, but not all of it.
    The shock of these violent exchanges finally drove Kimberly to her feet. But what should she do next? She could not imagine how to help her would-be savior, yet the idea of leaving him to his fate sickened her. Could she run for the police? They were nearby. But how fast could she move on her wobbly legs?
    As the questions plagued her, the snake-man pressed his torso harder against Vortex’s back, forcing his prey forward, his tail digging deeper into the man’s guts, cutting off his ability to breathe. Any moment would see Vortex black out, and then she would again be alone with—
    The end of the snake-man’s tail whipped along the ground between Vortex’s legs, seeking to wrap around his knees. As she watched, twin beams of red light shot from Vortex’s eyes, burning through the reptilian flesh in an instant and slicing at least twelve inches of that tail in half.
    The snake-man had roared when his fang broke, but this time his eyes flew wide and he screamed. Vortex hit the tail again, lasering from the center outward so that part of it now hung loose, held together only by an inch of scaly flesh. The rogue screamed louder.
    Twisting around on the pavement, Vortex planted his feet and bucked against the snake-man, and when his chest thrust outward, he lasered through part of the body of the tail where it wrapped around his torso.
    The rogue could not take anymore. Flopping around like a fish, he unwrapped himself from his former prey, panicking to get away from the burning assault.
    As soon as the pressure relaxed, Vortex bent forward again, this time of his own free will, and kicked backward — his boot caught the shrieking rogue in the face, knocking him away. He spun on one knee to face his opponent, the air between them rippled like asphalt under the sun, and the rogue’s head snapped back as if struck by a sledgehammer. He collapsed to the pavement, unconscious.
    Vortex struggled to his feet, his right arm hanging loose at his side, the shoulder bulging at an unnatural angle.
    Kimberly limped over to his side. “Th-thank you,” she said.
    Vortex sort of chuckled, but it sounded more like a brave effort. “It’s my pleasure, miss. It’s what I do ...” He looked to his left as the police siren chirped yet again. “Sounds like the cops are almost here. And we have an audience, too.” He nodded his head to the