Tormenting Lila Read Online Free PDF Page A

out what she was thinking. I grinned to myself and turned back to see Nikki of the panda eyes and smoky voice saunter on stage and take hold of the mike.
    Beside me, Alex squeezed my hand and then the band started playing and I forgot all about everything, even how annoying Jack was and how many times Alex and I had been interrupted. They were
good. No, better than that. They were incredible and my earlier thought about Jesse belonging on the front of
Rolling Stone
magazine suddenly seemed more like a premonition. The whole
crowd went wild and I knew it was only a matter of seconds before Suki and Nate started throwing their underwear onto the stage.
    So I wouldn’t have to witness that I squeezed out of the crowd and went to get some air. I glanced around the bar area looking for Amber to see if she wanted some company, but she was
nowhere in sight. There was only the English girl, Ren, sitting on her own at one of the far booths by the door, staring into the depths of a dirty glass as though trying to divine her future from
the dregs. I remembered that feeling well and hoped she managed to figure it out without too much drama.
    I wandered outside to see if Amber was waiting for us there, but the street was eerily deserted.
    ‘Amber?’ I called quietly into the darkness.
    There was no answer. I turned to head back inside when there was the sound of gravel crunching in the parking lot, and a muffled cry made me whip back round.
    Before I could stop to consider what I was doing I had started running, adrenaline flash-flooding my system. The thought briefly flitted through my mind that I should be fleeing danger, not
throwing myself head-first into it, but something had shifted in me since the fight with Stirling Enterprises. I’d learned that nothing ever came from running away.
    As I sprinted, I was already scanning the lot, looking for something – anything – I could turn into a weapon. There were only cars though, rows and rows of cars. A scream sounded
from somewhere at the far end where trees pressed against the starless sky. Was it Amber? I couldn’t tell. Shadows blotted the treeline – movement blurred out of the corner of my eye,
and suddenly a burst of red flamed against the darkness . . . I skidded to a halt and dived between two cars as I recognised Amber’s hair.
    ‘Amber?’ I shouted.
    To my right a shadow leapt towards me. I ripped a wing mirror free from a Jeep and spun it into the sky above my head, bringing it to a shuddering halt in the air as Amber stumbled towards
me.
    She fell into my arms. I caught her, almost collapsing under her weight and twisted her away from the darkness, looking over my shoulder into the shadows, trying to see who was out there.
    ‘What happened?’ I asked.
    ‘I don’t know, he came up behind me . . .’ Amber shuddered. Her fingers bit into my shoulders. She pulled away, standing upright, but her breathing was unsteady and she was
shaking. The wing mirror hovered above us still, spinning like a top.
    Just then a branch snapped underfoot close by, leaves rustled. Someone was pushing through the bushes, trying to get away. I bolted after them but Amber caught me by the arm and yanked me
back.
    ‘No!’ she yelled. ‘Don’t.’
    I whipped around, blood roaring in my ears, ready to argue. But the expression on Amber’s face stilled me. She looked petrified and a streak of blood running down her cheek brought me up
short. She shook her head at me, her eyes wide.
    ‘Lila!’
    ‘Amber?’
    We both jumped. Alex and Jack were sprinting towards us across the lot, Suki and Nate skidding behind them.
    ‘I heard you both,’ Suki panted.
    ‘What’s happening?’ Alex asked, his voice tense. He and Jack had switched straight into Unit mode. They’d drawn their guns and as soon as they got close they took up
flanking positions around us, facing out towards the dark. Jack cut a glance in Amber’s direction and did a double-take at the sight of the blood