Read When Irish Eyes Are Haunting: A Krewe of Hunters Novella Online
Authors: Heather Graham
Tags: #Paranormal Romance, #Heather Graham, #Krewe of Hunters, #1001 Dark Nights
When Irish Eyes Are Haunting: A Krewe of Hunters Novella (15 page)
Lord, she was stupid, taking off in the middle of the night like this! It was just that…
She’d been so upset, so indignant, so…perplexed that personal danger hadn’t even occurred to her!
She barely dared to breathe. Why had she suddenly stood up and said that she’d be no part of any of it—she’d leave town quietly, but she’d be no part of it.
Get a grip
, she told herself. Those she knew might be hardcore politicians; they weren’t suffering from mental disorders. Wait—not true.
Anyone in politics was suffering with a mental disorder!
She tried to laugh at her own joke. No sound came.
She quickened her pace; her feet, legs, and lungs hurt. She kept her phone in her hand. She tried to look fierce as if she was ready to press an emergency number for help at any moment.
Her heart was pounding.
It was a van.
Everyone who watched TV knew that evil men in vans caught victims on the street and drew them in by a side door and then…
The van drove on.
She felt giddy with relief and smiled at her own sense of unjustified panic.
A moment later, she saw a sedan in the street. It slowed and she squinted, looking toward it.
“Lara!” A deep male voice called her name. The car slid to a halt. He called to her from the driver’s seat of the sedan. “Come on; I’ll give you a lift!”
She had to know him; she should have recognized the voice. It was just muffled in the night air. It didn’t matter; she was being offered a ride by someone who was obviously official. Someone she knew; someone who knew her.
Maybe Ian had sent someone out after her—maybe he’d realized what time it was and that the streets might not be safe
.
Her relief made her weak.
She dropped her phone into her purse and ran across the street—grateful and shaky.
But the man didn’t get out of the car. And for some reason—perhaps the warning voice inside of her that reminded her she now knew too much—she grew suspicious.
Ian’s people would have gotten out of the car; opened the door for her!
She turned to run.
Where? Where should she run? The streets were empty, the mall was empty…
She prayed for the beat-up van to come back.
She nearly stumbled.
She paused briefly; she would not trip and fall and just look back screaming as idiots did in horror movies when giant reptiles were coming for them. She wouldn’t fall, and she wouldn’t just lie there and scream and die. She took the seconds required to throw off her heels while digging in her bag for her cell phone.
She did nothing stupid.
But that didn’t save her.
He was fast—surprisingly fast.
He slammed into her and down on her like a tackle in a football game. She opened her mouth to scream.
Who the hell was it? She still couldn’t see him! Did it matter? Escape!
She couldn’t turn her head; he was behind her, forcing her down. And then…she felt his hand coming around her head. He was holding something—a rag. She smelled something sickly sweet and she began to see black dots before her. The smell gagged her. She had to keep fighting; she was going to die if she didn’t.
So she fought…
But as the scent overwhelmed her, she thought,
Oh, God, no, I really am going to disappear
.
The blackness took her.
Text Copyright © 2015 by Slush Pile Productions, LLC
Permission to reproduce text granted by Harlequin Books S.A.
On behalf of 1001 Dark Nights,
Liz Berry and M.J. Rose would like to thank ~
Steve Berry
Doug Scofield
Kim Guidroz
Jillian Stein
Dan Slater
Asha Hossain
Chris Graham
Pamela Jamison
Jessica Johns
Richard Blake
BookTrib After Dark
and Simon Lipskar
Table of Contents
