The Golden Bell Read Online Free PDF Page A

hurt at their hands. Her father had been her
best friend, but she’d always been shy, not the kind of girl that
appealing males coveted. As a result she’d had no boyfriends and
had experienced only a couple of forgettable kisses. Flirting
aside, someone like Fallon wouldn’t even want her, and she didn’t
need to deal with rejection on top of everything else.
    Left with no options, she settled on waiting
on opportunity. A distraction would come, giving her the chance to
bolt. As a plan, it sucked, but she’d worked with less on shorter
notice. She’d make it work. She couldn’t afford not to.
     
     

CHAPTER 3
     
    A blood-curdling roar jerked Fallon out of a
deep sleep. Half scream, half battle cry, it had him out of bed,
gun in hand before his mind registered why. Tearing open his door,
he bolted down the hall to Rain’s room. Before he could kick the
door open, it flew inward, and a wild-eyed fury burst out. Eyes
wide and golden-lit with fear and rage, she snarled at him and
converted her charge to a flying kick. Habit made him dodge,
surprise made him stomp on his instinctive reaction. She was in her
nightshirt, his shirt, and shaking with adrenaline. A nightmare?
Flashback?
    Kirk, a friend and one of the men who’d
helped with her rescue, charged up the stairs, a wicked blade in
his hand. He’d arrived on a late flight and his body clock was
still set time zones away, so he’d volunteered to guard the TV and
fridge while Fallon went to bed. His entrance spooked the girl.
Snarling, she ran down the hall, flinging open the door to his
study.
    “What’s up?” Kirk demanded, looking for
someone to disembowel.
    “Check her room. I think it’s a flashback,”
Fallon supplied, dashing after his houseguest. Peeking around the
corner of his study with a great deal more caution than he’d
approached her door, he barely saved his face as the small statue
of a knight whizzed by his head. Swearing, he slipped into the
room, dodging missiles as he went. “Rain!”
    No response. Looking around wildly, she
noticed the moonlight coming through the diamond paned window and
raced for it.
    A fleeting prayer ran through his head as he
dove for her, tackling her just over the chaise lounge. The velvet
cushions broke her fall, but his weight sent a fresh rush of panic
through her. Damp with cold sweat, blinded by her loose hair, she
fought against his hold, trying to bite.
    In the end, she exhausted herself, unable to
defeat his superior strength. Only then did he relax his rigid
hold, fractionally giving her freedom as he shifted more of his
weight off her. “Rain?” He brushed the wet hair from her eyes,
careful not to release her wrists yet. “Did you have a bad
dream?”
    She blinked and drew in a shuddering breath.
Slowly she looked around, dawning bewilderment in her eyes.
    The study light came on. Kirk stood at the
door, gingerly avoiding broken pottery and debris with his stocking
feet. “Doozy of temper you’ve got there, love.” He started picking
up the mess.
    Fallon relaxed a little more as she stared at
Kirk, comprehension emerging. Certain she was no longer going to
attack, he moved off her, sitting beside her on the chaise. “Bad
dreams. What were you dreaming of?”
    She slowly sat up, shivering. The borrowed
shirt barely covered her thighs, and it was cool by the window.
“The night my father died.”
    Fallon snagged the throw blanket and covered
her. “What happened?”
    “We were swarmed with Haunt. My father sensed
something and made me go down the emergency chute. He didn’t have
time to follow without being seen. I didn’t dare go back because
they were watching the house. I saw what happened through the spy
hole.” She shivered.
    Fallon and Kirk exchanged glances. Carefully,
Fallon asked, “Would you recognize anyone?”
    She shook her head, still lost in memories.
“They were shifted. They looked alike to me.”
    The strangeness of her statement made him
frown. Shifted or not, every