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.He gripped Kate’s arm hard, shaking her.“Matt, pull her back to us!”“Kate,” her sisters cried out, “leave him, leave him there.”“Hannah!” Jonas cried the name desperately.“The wind, Hannah, bring in the wind.”Kate stared at the terrible figure coming straight at her, fury in its every line.The eyes glowed red through the dark fog; the face was made of bones, not flesh.The mouth gaped open in a silent scream.She was trapped there in the world of shadows, real, yet not, unable to find her way back.The worst of it was, she caught sight of a second insubstantial figure coming at her from the left.“Kate.” Matt whispered her name, lifted her into his arms.Her body was an empty shell, her mind caught somewhere else.“Kate, darling, go with the other one, he’ll lead you out.” Elle’s soft voice pushed everything else away.The dark demon was almost upon her.Kate felt a hand on her arm.She looked down and saw Jackson’s fingers circling her wrist like a vise.She didn’t have time to go voluntarily; he yanked her out of the shadows, back into the light.She heard a roar of rage, shuddered when she felt bones brush against her skin.Matt was real and solid, and she gripped him hard, needing to feel grounded.She felt physically ill, her stomach a churning knot.She closed eyes, sliding into a dead faint.The wind swept in from the sea, a strong tempest of retaliation.Hannah’s fear added to the strength of the storm.Rain burst down on them.The dark fog swirled and fought, not wanting to give ground.For a brief moment there was a confrontation between the entity and the Drake sisters, sticks and debris flying in the wind.The three men could hear the desperate cries of seagulls.And then it was over, the fog retreating to the sea, leaving behind silence and the rushing wind and rain.Matt stood there on the sidewalk, Kate, safe in his arms, staring in shock at the mess left behind.Clouds overhead obscured the sun, the day overcast and gloomy.Christmas lights twinkled on and off where they hung over the buildings in rows of vivid colors, a terrible contrast to the scene left behind in the town square.Feathers were everywhere and in the pristine white snow by the manger there was a bright red pool of blood.Chapter9A star burns hot in the dead of the night,As the bell tolls it’s now midnight“Never again.Never again.” Matt shoved both hands through his hair and glared at the Drake sisters.“I swear, Kate, you are never doing that again.” He paced restlessly back and forth across the living room floor.Sarah, Kate’s older sister, rested her head against her fiancé’s knee, and watched Matt in silence.Abbey sat on the couch, Joley’s head resting in her lap.Joley lay stretched out, her eyes closed, appearing to be asleep in spite of his tirade.Hannah lay on the couch closest to the window, lines of exhaustion visible on her young face.“It doesn’t do any good to get upset,” Jonas said.“They do whatever they want to do without a thought for the consequences.”Sarah sighed loudly.“Don’t start, Jonas.That’s not true, and you know it.If you were the one trying to get rid of this thing, you wouldn’t worry about your own safety, and you know it.You’d just do whatever had to be done.”“That’s different, Sarah,” Jonas snarled back.“Dammit anyway.Look at Hannah.She can’t even move.I think she needs a doctor.Where the hell is Libby when we need her?”“Are you ever going to stop swearing at us?” Sarah asked.She rubbed her face against Damon’s knee.“Hannah needs rest and maybe some tea.”“I’ll make tea,” Damon offered.“I think all of you could use it.”“Damon, you are a darling,” Sarah said.“The kettle’s boiling.”Matt glanced into the kitchen, and, sure enough, the kettle was steaming.He knew very well it hadn’t even been turned on minutes earlier.Damon leaned down to brush a kiss across Sarah’s temple before making his way into the kitchen.“This feels like old times,” he called out, reaching for the tea kept for just such occasions.“We could use a little more festive atmosphere,” Abigail decided.She stared at the row of candles on the mantel until they spluttered to life, flames leaping and flickering for a moment, then taking hold.At once the aroma of cinnamon and spice scented the air.“Good idea,” Sarah agreed and focused on the CD player.Instantly Joley’s voice filled the room with a popular Christmas carol.“Not that one,” Joley protested.“Something else.”“Are you all insane?” Jonas demanded.“Kate could have been killed.Are we going to pretend it didn’t happen and have a little Christmas get-together?”“Jonas, it does no good yelling at them.What do you want them to do?” Damon returned, carrying a tray with several cups of tea on it.He distributed them among the Drake sisters.“And you were the one asking me, no, telling me to get out there and stop the fog,” Kate pointed out.Jonas muttered something ugly under his breath and reached down for Hannah’s limp wrist to take her pulse.As he did a breeze swirled around the room, and his hat sailed from the chair where he’d placed it and landed in the middle of the room [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]