Page 43 of Fangs for the Memories (Budapest Bites #1)

I don’t really know where I’m going. I recall the main shopping areas are over on the other side of the Danube, so I wind my way down the steep streets mostly in a daze in order to find the water and a bridge.

The wind nips at my face, and I wish I’d had the presence of mind to pick up a scarf and hat. Instead, I pull the hood up on my coat and instantly the sound outside is muffled.

It means I’m too alone with my thoughts. Thoughts which race through my head at an alarming rate.

Could it really be the case I’m pregnant with Ferenc’s baby?

On the one hand, it would be everything he wanted. On the other, if it’s not possible…what is happening to me?

Confusion swirls around me, like the snow which has started falling again. I don’t know what to think, only that I want to walk and I want to find a pharmacy.

I need to know, one way or another. I need to be prepared for rejection.

Because all of this might have been a game to Ferenc, like the wedding was to Mark. For all he says he loves me, how can I be sure?

The sky has darkened considerably since I set off, and the snow is really coming down hard, making it difficult to see more than six feet in front of me.

I’m still going downhill, which means at some point I should reach the tram lines and the river.

I might even be able to catch a tram, given they never seem to stop, no matter what the weather.

I shove my hands further into my pockets and duck my head against the driving snow, looking down at where I’m putting my feet instead.

Which is when I hear the growl.

And find I’m no longer alone.

The three creatures ahead of me are most definitely not human. Wings extend from their backs, and from what little I can see of their faces, they are mostly featureless, save for some fangs and coal black eyes, like a great white shark.

I don’t know what they are, but the fact they’re here at the same time as me is no coincidence. They’re here for me.

A truck thunders down the street, braking hard in the slippery conditions, wheels skidding and hydraulics hissing.

I use the movement and momentum of the thing which seems to spook my would be assailants, to my advantage, ducking behind it, using the bulk to shield me as I run across the road and duck next to a parked car.

I won’t have long. I doubt very much that whatever they are, they will give up easily.

I spot a narrow passage between the houses, which looks like it might lead down to the river. A place I know there is movement and people. Enough, I have to hope, to put off the monsters who want me for something.

As quietly as I can, I make my move, sliding through the snow as I dive down the passage. I hear the sounds of wings and a low, eerie wail which sets my teeth on edge.

I don’t have time to think about anything else other than getting to the end, getting to where I can see a yellow and cream tram rattle past. Where I can see the ice flows on the Danube.

I can get there, I can be safe, and I can call Ferenc.

Which is when I’m plucked from the ground and lifted high into the air. For a moment I struggle, but then I realize I’m too high up. If these monsters drop me, I will die.

I am not ready to die.

Fortunately, we get to roof height, and I’m dropped a few feet into a wide gutter which runs along the edge of one of the buildings. With a tremendous effort on my part, I manage not to fall forward but instead remain upright.

The wind and snow whip around me, sounding for all the world like a snarl as the shadows of the creatures disappear for an instant before they come back around with a whomp whomp of their wings.

I have nowhere to go, and the height is making me giddy. I don’t know what they’re going to do, whether they want to kill me or kidnap me.

One of them lands, ungainly, ten feet away from me on the ledge, its black, expressionless eyes fixed on my position. It stalks forward. I want to step back, but I don’t trust myself to balance, and it’s a long, long way down.

Whatever it wants, I’m powerless to resist.

Out of the snow, a huge black shape leaps over the roof and slams into the creature, the momentum carrying both of them over the gap between the buildings and onto the flatter roof of the one on the other side.

The air is filled with shrieks and growls as two of the other creatures return to assist their colleague.

It’s almost impossible to tell what’s happening, with so much movement, so much snow, and my eyes filled with tears from the freezing wind.

Until, as if there was never any sound in the air at all, the noises cease.

Nothing moves. Then the massive black thing lands back on my side. I put a foot behind me and find there’s nothing. I flail my arms, knowing I’m going to fall and unable to do anything about it.

All the regrets I’ve had flash in front of me.

And there are two.

That I could have met Ferenc sooner, if only I’d been prepared to take a leap into the unknown.

And I should have told him about the baby.