Sarah McCarty Read Online Free PDF Page A

raced her forward, rushing her along so fast it felt as if her feet didn’t touch the floor. Clawing at his grip she snapped, “It has information in it.”
    He cursed and spun them around. She went flying outward like the lash at the end of a whip. He hauled her back in, anchoring her to his side with a grip that felt like a vise. She gasped.
    “Sorry.” With a glance down he loosened his grip. “Where is it?”
    “In the backseat of the car.”
    “Figures.” He said that is if she were a never-ending inconvenience. If her head didn’t hurt so much and her stomach wasn’t rolling so hard, she’d snap at him for the attitude. After all, she hadn’t asked him to come along and ruin her night. She hadn’t asked for the monsters to raid her lab. She hadn’t asked her company to turn on her. She hadn’t asked her mother to look the other way all those years ago when her stepfather had knocked on her door. And the very last thing she’d ask for right now was the burn of tears behind her lids. But that wasn’t stopping it from happening.
    Slade propped her against the wall. Her knees trembled. “Don’t move.”
    She missed the warmth of his body immediately. More so, the illusion of safety he provided. She locked her knees. “Don’t dawdle then.”
    She was proud of the quip if for no other reason than for the mockery it made of the tears. She wasn’t a helpless little girl. She was a woman, more than capable of handling whatever life threw at her. Even if it was spooky, ugly, monster men. Oh God, the monsters . They were still around, still a threat. She straightened, searching for a weapon. Unless she popped the underwire from her bra, she was defenseless.
    In the blink of an eye, Slade was back at her side, her pack slung over his shoulder, adding shock to her spook. She jerked away from his hand. “What do you do? Fly?”
    “Something like that.”
    Something like that . She took a breath, her heart lodging in her throat. He’d said that about the monsters, too. There were questions a woman who played it safe should never ask her savior. Not when there was danger all around and she didn’t know who to trust, but there were times when sensibility failed her. This was apparently going to be one of those times. Looking Slade in his beautiful-yet-strange eyes, remembering his speed, his strength, feeling as if invisible doors she never wanted opened were cracking, she asked, “What are you?”
    Without even a blink, he answered, “I’m a vampire.”
     
     
    SLADE had to be joking. Or insane. Now there was a comforting thought to have as she was dragged through the garage alongside Slade. A vampire. Oh God . Her head still spun, her vision was still blurred. Maybe she’d imagined the whole conversation. Slade came to an abrupt halt. Nausea roiled as her head snapped forward and then back into the solid muscle of his shoulder. She closed her eyes. More pain. More stars shooting across the black screen of her lids.
    “You still with me?”
    She’d puke if she nodded. “Unfortunately.”
    Good grief, how could he chuckle at a time like this?
    “Can you stand on your own?”
    “Of course.”
    “I’d believe that more if you opened your eyes.”
    So would she. Cracking her lids, she saw they were at the far side of the garage, standing in front of an empty space.
    “Happy?”
    “Not really. You look a little shell-shocked.”
    “Must be all the excitement.”
    Another smile. Her heart, which should have been too exhausted from all the jolts she’d given it this evening to respond, skipped a beat. Damn, why couldn’t he have more of a bookish look about him?
    “Must be.”
    He let go of her elbow. She hadn’t realized how much she’d been leaning on him until he took his hand away. She stumbled.
    “Hell.” His reflexes were all that kept her from pitching to the floor.
    “I think I have a concussion.” It was a remarkably coherent statement, considering the circumstances, and she was proud