Wilde's Fire (Darkness Falls #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

above our heads, no streetlights, nothing but darkness.
    Brad and Brit grab our flashlights—providing the only light that can be seen—from the ground and point them on something approaching.
    I freeze.
    Sniffing the air while moving toward us, like a pack of dogs, are six creatures that could only be from Hell. What I see doesn’t make any sense; the beings before us must be remnants of the visions I’ve experienced. But the panic on Brad’s and Brit’s faces tell me the beings are real.
    These creatures have plagued my nightmares for years, but I’ve never seen them like this. Their bodies look somewhat human, but their bones are crooked and mangled beyond belief. They’re naked, with pasty, gray skin and bony fingers. Long claws hang from the hands by their sides. Their eyes, hollow sockets of pitch-blackness, focus on us. Every smooth step they take seems unnatural for such deformed creatures.
    Tears spill over the edges of Brit’s deep green eyes, race down her cheeks, drop from her chin, and splatter on the dry earth under our feet. She must understand the finality of this situation.
    We are all going to die.
    Maybe this could have been avoided if I’d ignored the yellow light that led us into this disaster, or if my parents were with us, like they should have been.
    I squeeze Brit’s hand to get her attention.
    She looks at me, eyes wide and tormented.
    I know what I have to do to save her and Brad.
    I love you
, I mouth to her.
    She mouths it back.
    I turn around and shove Brit in the chest as hard as I can, knocking her through the entrance of the cave, and I pray she’ll make it home to safety.
    Shrieks of rage come from behind me; I hear the creatures begin to run.
    Brad’s eyes lock with mine.
    I grab onto him. Tears rush down my face. I know he’s going to shove me through the mouth of the cave, the same way I saved my sister.
    “I’m not leaving you behind!”
    “I’ll be right behind you. You have to go now!”
    Brad pushes me toward the hole and jumps after me, but we must be disoriented, because I don’t find myself submerged in water. Instead, I land on my butt.
    He plants himself on the ground in front of me, takes my hand, and helps me up. Grabbing me by the waist, Brad pulls me into him with all his strength. With one firm hand holding me at the small of my back against his body, and the other racing up to the back of my head, he leans his face down to mine and kisses me.
    For a second, everything disappears. It’s just Brad and me, as one. His lips are warm and soft, but his kiss is filled with so much built-up emotion it takes my breath away. I don’t care that death is approaching at a rapid pace; I don’t care that the first and last kiss of my life means something different to Brad than it does me—I’m going to enjoy this. Putting my arms around his neck, I return his kiss with as much intensity as he gives it.
    Brad steps back with a smile, allowing me to look into his watering eyes long enough to see the pain in them. I don’t think anyone understood the depth of his feelings for me.
    I know I didn’t.
    We could’ve had a good relationship—we had the friendship part of it down—but even now, faced with death, I don’t know if that’s what I want from him.
    “I’m so sorry I’ve never kissed you before now. I’ve dreamed of doing that since I met you in second grade. I’ve been trying to find a way to say this since we came out here, Kate. I love you. I’ve always loved you and will continue to until I die.” Brad pushes me down, then spins around before the creatures reach us.
    I land on my back, with the wind knocked out of me.
    He runs away, trying to distract our attackers—and it’s working.
    They follow him. The first monster catches his arm and slices through his back with dagger-like claws.
    “No!” I wheeze, gripping at my chest.
    Struggling to fill my lungs with air and get to my feet, I fall onto my hands and knees. I look up to see if he’s