Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 04 Read Online Free PDF Page B

kind of sexual vibe. Wanted to know why
he’d become a Watchman. What kind of life he’d led to become so hard and
lethal-looking.
    But most of all, Olivia wanted to know why he’d kissed
her. Not that she could actually ask him at the moment, considering something
was out in the woods, making the most god-awful sounds she’d ever imagined.
    “Don’t be scared, honey,” she whispered against
Jamie’s silky curls, covering her little ear once again as she pressed the
other against her shoulder. She hated that her niece was about to go through
what would surely be another horrific situation. Thankfully, Jamie hadn’t been
with Monica when she was killed, but the traumatic loss of her mother had come
just weeks after the disappearance of her beloved aunt Chloe. Olivia honestly
didn’t know how much more the little girl could take, when she’d already been
through more than any child should ever have to endure.
    Olivia was still lost in thought, worrying about
Jamie, when Aiden disconnected his call and reached out, taking hold of her
arm. “Come on,” he muttered. “We’ve gotta go.”
    “What’s g-going on?” she stammered, though she had a
good idea of what was making those terrifying howls.
    “I have some friends with me who’re patrolling the
woods. The Casus are on their way.”
    As he spoke, he started guiding her around the side of
the house, toward a massive black truck she could see parked out on the curb.
At first she was too shell-shocked to react, but then panic took hold and
Olivia dug in her heels, pulling against his grasp as much as she could with
Jamie in her arms. “Wait!” she panted, her breaths coming hard and fast. “I
have to think f-for a minute. I need to—”
    “Look, you might not be happy about being stuck with
me,” he snapped, cutting her off as he spun toward her, “but I’m your best shot
at getting out of here alive. And I’ll take apart anyone who tries to hurt the
kid,” he added, jerking his chin toward Jamie, who had her small arms wrapped
tight around Olivia’s neck.
    “How do I know you’re not lying?” she whispered,
rubbing her hand against Jamie’s small back. “How do I know this hasn’t all
been some sort of elaborate setup?”
    “You don’t.” Grim lines creased his expression as he
held her stare. “You’re just going to have to trust me.”
    Taking a deep breath, she prayed she was making the
right choice. “Okay, all right. What do we do?”
    “We’re going to take my truck and get out of here.
Then the guys I’m with will come back for your car.”
    “No,” she argued, already shaking her head. “We can’t
go in your truck.”
    He pulled his hand down his face, his gravelly voice
thick with frustration. “Christ, Liv. This is no time to argue.”
    She spoke quickly, knowing they were running out of
time. “We have to take my car. It’s already packed with Jamie’s things and I
can’t risk losing them. They’re all she has from home. From her mother.”
    He muttered something foul under his breath, but
stopped arguing and barked out a gritty command for her to wait there for him.
Olivia watched as he ran to his truck, grabbed a duffel bag from the extended
cab, then came back, latching on to her arm again as he headed straight for her
car. She ran to keep up with his long strides, then buckled Jamie into the car
seat belted into the middle of the backseat, while Aiden held the door open for
her. After pressing a quick kiss to Jamie’s forehead, she promised her niece
that everything was going to be okay and climbed back out.
    Olivia was about to hand her car keys over to Aiden,
thinking he’d want to drive, when he dropped his bag on the ground, leaned into
the car and slipped something over Jamie’s tousled curls. Before she could ask
what it was, he looked back, snagging her gaze over his broad shoulder. “You’ve
heard of the Dark Markers, right?”
    Her gaze swung to the ornate Maltese cross now hanging
around