Page 62

The girl eyed Paige up and down as Paige shoved her card into the machine. “Doesn’t look like it.”

Paige wrinkled her nose, ripping the card from the credit machine and shoving it into her wallet. With a curt “thanks,” Paige gathered her bags and hurried from the SmartMart.

The chilly night air hit her cheeks as the automatic door slid open in front of her. She hurried through the streets with the plastic bags digging into her fingers. After a few adjustments, she settled the bags into the most comfortable position she could find and hurried along the sidewalk.

As she approached the library, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She slowed her pace, biting her lower lip while she pondered what sent chills up her spine. The sensation of being watched embedded itself in her brain.

She spun on her heel, searching the street behind her. A breeze rustled the colored leaves that fell from the autumn trees in eddies. In the distance, the harbor bell clanged in the water.

The street lamp nearest the intersection flickered then blinked off. The next streetlight did the same, plunging the area around it into darkness.

Paige’s muscles stiffened as the third street lamp burned out. She side-eyed the lamp nearest her, two lights away from the one that’d just gone dark.

Her breathing turned ragged, and she spun back toward the library, sprinting down the sidewalk. The breeze ramped up into a whipping wind. Her ponytail blew wildly as she raced for the intersection and the safety of the library.

Bulbs burst behind her and scattered glass onto the cement below. Paige gasped for breath as she darted across the street and leaped onto the sidewalk abutting the library.

She sped down the alley with her bags banging into her thighs. She reached the door and struggled to free herself of the plastic containers' handles. They‘d wrapped themselves around her wrists and fingers in a twisted knot.

A panic gasp escaped her as she flailed to shake off the packages and dig for her ID.

The last street lamp over her head went black. The alley plunged into darkness.

A snarl sounded, followed by a chittering.

Paige froze, swallowing hard as her eyes fought to adjust to the blackness. She glanced in the direction of the threatening noise.

In the darkness, she made out one feature: red eyes.

CHAPTER 17

Paige’s heart thudded against her ribs, and her pulse raced as she desperately tried to free herself of the SmartMart bags and dig for the keycard in her tote.

A growl emanated from the end of the alley. A scraping scratch followed it. The red eyes inched closer to her.

Darkness enveloped her. Paige could make out no details outside of those eyes. Those red eyes.

She stared at them, ceasing her flailing as she became mesmerized by the glowing red orbs. The wound on her back began to throb, pulsing with every beat of her heart.

The beast growled again before it spoke in a low, raspy tone. “Come to me, Paige Turner.”

Paige stood motionless for a moment before she lifted a foot. It hovered in the air for a second, then swung forward. Before her shoe hit the pavement, the door to the library burst open.

Paige jumped, her concentration broken as the metal barrier concealed the red eyes behind it. She blinked a few times, reaching for her head. Sharp pain shot through it.

“Paige? You need some help?” Otis inquired.

Paige sucked in a few breaths before she twisted her neck to focus on him. The pain in her head eased as she focused on his dark-brown eyes in the hall’s dim light.

“Y-yeah,” she choked out, lifting a wrist toward him.

“My, these are wrapped tight. I’m surprised you didn’t lose circulation in your hand.”

The residual ache at her temples eased away. “Me too.”

He freed her wrist of the bags, and she shook it to relieve the pins and needles in her hand.

“Ugh, thank you,” she said.