Shadow Borne Read Online Free PDF Page B

contained.
Every lamp was burning within the mansion. Light seemed to fill
every inch of space to spill out the windows in bright yellow
patches on the manicured lawn.
    Between the house lights and the bright
silver and gold moon that had decided to come back out and grace us
with its presence, even the landscaped rolling hills behind the
house and the six car garage seemed lit up and on display. As
usual, Marta's porch lights bordered on blinding.
    I nudged the convertible's door closed with
my hip and beamed at Claire. "Have you ever been tempted to take a
rock to one of those porch lights?"
    "You mean the flood lights?" She laughed.
"I've fantasized about it, sure, but if I did it Marta would freak
out thinking vandals had been here and with my luck she would put
in even brighter bulbs."
    "They make brighter bulbs than this?" I eyed
the porch skeptically.
    "I don't know, but I bet–Mark!" she suddenly
shrieked.
    "Mark?" I uttered. With a growing sense of
dread, my eyes followed Claire as she broke into a sprint across
the short expanse of lawn that lay between us and the house, up the
wide, white washed front porch steps to launch herself at her
husband.
    His arms closed around her and in the next
instant he lowered his mouth to hers in an intimate show of
affection that had me awkwardly looking the other way.
    A movement caught the
corner of my eye and I swiveled back to the porch. The light
shifted behind the statuesque bulk that was Mark cradling Claire in
the middle of the front door frame. Behind the pair, a man cleared
his throat and said excuse me. That
voice...
    He hadn't spoken more than two words and yet
I knew that voice. For a brief moment I gave serious consideration
to spinning on my booted heel and walking back down the lane in the
direction in which I had come. The only thing stopping me was the
fact that I would be damned if he–if anyone–would make me run. I
would not disgrace myself by running scared like a skittish rabbit.
With an inward sigh, I forced myself to push away from the side of
Claire's navy blue convertible, put one foot in front of the other,
and walk calmly up the porch steps.
    My boots thumped solidly against the smooth
white planks beneath my feet and I concentrated on the sound. It
seemed to pulse in tandem with my heart, a steady thump thump
thump. Mark and Claire disentangled themselves from one another and
Claire peered over his shoulder before uttering a hoarse cry and
reaching for the figure behind them. I caught a glimpse of
chocolate toned hair and forced myself to take a deep breath.
    Mark grimaced and plowed a hand through his
light brown hair. His pale green eyes flashed sympathy, and then he
stepped aside.
    Mike. I drank in the sight of him and in
spite of all the mental preparation, despite the advance warning,
being in his presence felt a lot like being slapped.
    I sucked in a breath as he straightened and
released his sister. Claire turned around and worried her bottom
lip between her teeth, alternating her gaze from me to her brother
and back again.
    "Aries, I'm sorry. I had no idea–"
    "They decided they were up to making the
trip after all. We got in about an hour ago. Your parents and your
sister are asleep already. They haven't even met the girls yet."
Mark made the hasty explanation to his wife.
    Mike's eyes never left mine. He inhaled
deeply, took two steps forward and the next thing I knew he had
yanked me off my feet and practically plastered me to his chest. It
took everything I had not to scream. As it was, I twisted and
shoved and maneuvered until I managed to create the inch or so of
space between our bodies that I needed in order to get out of his
grasp.
    I flattened my palms against his chest with
every intention of shoving him away from me. Actually, I didn't
really need to free my hands in order to make him move away from
me, but Claire was already standing beside us looking dismayed
enough without watching me knee her brother in the groin.
    So I