Tormenting Lila Read Online Free PDF

pouring down her face. He grabbed hold of her
and spun her towards the light from the street, his hand under her chin.
    ‘Who did this to you?’ he growled.
    ‘Some guy attacked her.’
    ‘Who?’ It was Alex asking.
    Amber shook her head. ‘I don’t know.’
    ‘Is it the Unit?’ I asked, suddenly feeling the ground tilt beneath my feet.
    ‘It’s not the Unit,’ Alex said, his hand finding mine and squeezing. ‘If it was the Unit it would have been a co-ordinated attack with weapons. Besides, the Unit’s
gone,’ he murmured. ‘They can’t hurt us any more.’
    ‘Did you get a look at whoever it was?’ Jack asked.
    Amber shook her head. ‘No. I didn’t even feel him until he was right on me.’
    Alex turned to Suki. ‘Suki – you hear anything? Is there anybody out there?’
    Suki tipped her head to one side. ‘No. I can’t hear anything.’
    I could feel the tension in Alex, he was vibrating with it. Jack’s jaw was pulsing. The two of them wanted to give chase, hunt down whoever had attacked Amber, but I could tell they were
torn. They didn’t want to leave us.
    Jack took a step towards the trees but Amber grabbed for his hand. ‘Please don’t go. Don’t follow him,’ she said, her voice barely more than a whisper. Jack scowled.
‘I mean it, Jack,’ Amber said, staring up at him, her bottom lip trembling. ‘I know evil. I know it more than any of you do. I
see
it every day. Every time I walk down
the street I pass people who are thinking such dark thoughts I can’t believe they’re not behind bars. But this . . . person,’ she swallowed again. ‘I’ve never felt
anything like that before. I couldn’t fight him off. Usually—’
    ‘Shhh,’ Jack whispered, suddenly pulling her towards him. He placed his hand over the cut seeping blood above her eyebrow. Amber winced. Jack closed his eyes. A few seconds later he
removed his hand and I blinked in astonishment. There wasn’t a single blemish or mark visible, just the blood now dried and smeared a little on her cheek. Amber pressed her fingers to her
temple and then held them in front of her face. Her eyes flew to his and she stared at him, speechless.
    Jack shrugged, a smug smile playing on his lips. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and let his fingers linger there. A soft smile broke on Amber’s lips.
    ‘Guess we’re bunking in with you guys tonight,’ Suki whispered in my ear.
    I pressed myself against Alex’s side and closed my eyes. I’d thought that now the Unit was gone and life had returned to normal I was safe, and that everyone I knew was safe too. But
that wasn’t the case, was it? There would always be people as bad as Richard Stirling in the world.
    We stood there in a subdued circle, none of us willing to turn our backs on the darkness. I glanced at my brother with his arm around Amber, at Alex who had one hand on his gun and the other on
me, at Suki and Nate holding hands and, with a jolt, I realised that even though there were countless bad people in the world (and I always seemed to cross paths with them), there were also good
people, people who were fearless and loyal and who never turned their backs, but who always chose to fight.

 
    Three days later
    The Inquirer & Mirror
    Nantucket’s newspaper since 1821
    A girl was attacked on Dionis beach last night. The girl, aged 18, was working as a nanny for a Boston family and had spent the night with friends at
popular Nantucket venue The Ship. It’s believed she was abducted while walking home alone later that evening.
    Police responding to another disturbance in the area discovered her partially-clothed body among the dunes. She was air-lifted to hospital in Boston where doctors describe
her injuries as critical. There is mounting speculation, that the girl was attacked by the same person who murdered 19-year-old Brazilian nanny Juliana Da Riva last summer.
    Da Riva’s body washed up on Dionis beach but police have refused to comment on