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The shriek of an alarm split the nighttime silence. It wasloud. Blaring…
Almost immediately, Evan appeared in the hall. Wearing nothing but his boxers, his corded arms braced either side of the door to my bedroom.
“Breach,” he snarled, jerking his head over his shoulder. “Northern perimeter.”
Joshua snapped out of whatever trance he’d been in so fast it was a little frightening. Moving with pantherish speed, he joined his friend in the hallway. It was all I could do to keep up with them as they raced down the stairs and flung the door wide.
“Stay here,” Evan ordered, as Joshua sped past him. Stunned and wordless, I watched them go.
I was as barefoot as they were. Completely naked, except for my thong. That didn’t stop me from grabbing one of the boys’ T-shirts, haphazardly flung over the arm of the living room couch. Or from looking for a coat.
By the time I had those things squared away however, I was completely alone.
Stay here.
The alarm was still shrieking from speakers all around me. Down here it was louder than ever! I covered my ears with my hands for a second, but it did nothing. It was still sharp and piercing. Like a knife to my brain.
Stay here…
Those had been Evan’s last words to me. Obviously he’d said them to keep me safe. To keep me…alone?
“Fuck that.”
Gathering the black trench coat I’d pulled from the first hanger in the coat closet, I stepped into the darkness and ran in the direction I’d seen them go.
Twenty-Eight
QUINN
It was foolish maybe, running off into the night. Pushing my way blindly through sheets of rain, which looked like dancing silver curtains in the partial moonlight.
I was cold. Wet. Mostly naked. Barefoot and in pain from the gravel driveway, the soles of my tender feet torn by a thousand tiny pieces of jagged rock.
But the one thing I wouldnotbe, was alone.
“EVAN! JOSHUA!”
I called their names hopefully, knowing my voice hadn’t carried very far. Once I reached the forest canopy it was muted even further, swallowed up by the noise of the rain.
“COLE?”
I had no idea where anyone was. All I knew was I was heading in their direction, slipping past the edge of the circular courtyard and into the surrounding woods. My poor feet moved across rocks and twigs now. I could feel them popping snapping beneath me, with every step.
“EVAN, I—”
Something surged through the forest in my direction, moving with a strange, limping gait. I heard primal grunting. Frothing at the mouth. It sounded almost like a wild animal, but an animal in definite pain.
The cursing however, told me this was no animal.
Shit!
Whatever it was, it was headed straight for me now. I searched frantically for cover. Some of the tree trunks were thicker than others, here and there anyway, but none of them were close enough to me to—
A man limped into view, clutching his side in pain. There was a nasty-looking wound there, all slick with blood. It mixed with the rain, welling up through his fingers. It turned them a crimson that looked black in the shadows.
The man’s eyes were wild, but even in the darkness I could see they were locked on me. A moment passed, and in that moment I saw him make a decision. The hand clutching his side slipped further backward, somewhere behind him. When it emerged again, I saw the deadly, unmistakable glint of steel.
“Quinn!”
