Page 14 of Angel Of Darkness

Nicole risked one quick glance over shoulder, and when she did, shock had her tripping.

Only one man followed her. What had happened to the others? She’d counted at least six before she’d fled as if the devil were chasing her.

Been there, done that.

The man striding so calmly across that barren field had a gun in his hand. But as she looked at him, he tossed the gun onto the ground. Wait, wait, that wasn’t the prey she’d intended to steal a few sips from in that dark lot. No, that was him. The stranger with the voice like thunder’s rumble. Deep and dark and, oh, damn, she was in trouble.

Nicole made it into the darkness in the tattered remains of the woods. She pushed inside the trees, still hurrying. She’d scouted this area earlier. There was a turn up ahead that would lead her back to an old sedan she’d parked and?—

The thirst.

Nicole swallowed and kept moving. Her mantra these days was just keep moving. That was the way she’d been living her life. One wild step at a time. As she broke from the woods, she saw her sedan waiting. Lucky for her, that beaten-up gray shell still managed to drive. Her breath expelled in a hard whoosh as she sprinted forward. She’d head to the next town. There was just enough time to get there before dawn. She’d drive over and find more prey.

Going without blood wasn’t a possibility that night. She couldn’t afford to be pushed to the edge. Not with the hunters after her.

“Nicole.”

A shiver worked over her at his voice. Don’t look back. She wrenched open the car door and jumped inside. Her hands were shaking when she shoved the key into the ignition. Hurry.

She slammed the car into reverse, spun it around and?—

Her headlights burned right on the man standing in the middle of the road.

Tall. Muscled. Dressed all in black, he should have looked like a devil. He didn’t. He looked like the best sin she’d ever seen. And that fact terrified her. Because, until six months ago, Nicole had never sinned. Now she couldn’t seem to stop, no matter how hard she tried.

He tilted his head, and his blond hair—too long, too thick—brushed against his sharp cheekbones. The man’s face was perfect. Better than any photo she’d ever seen in a magazine. Not handsome, perfect. He had strong, high cheekbones, a positively lickable square jaw, and wide, bright blue eyes. Just a come-here glance from those eyes would probably be enough to seduce most women.

Good thing she wasn’t most women.

“Get out of the way!” Nicole warned. Her foot lifted off the brake.

His lips curved slowly in a crooked half-smile that sent a chill over her.

“Move!” she yelled at him.

He stepped closer.

Her hand shoved out the driver’s side window. She’d broken the window weeks before. “Don’t push me!” He’d already admitted to being a hunter, and she wasn’t going to sit back and let him haul her away. This life might not be the one she would have chosen, but she wasn’t letting death take her.

Tall and Sexy kept walking toward her.

Not human. She was ninety percent sure of that fact. She revved the engine and shoved down on the gas pedal.

He was headed right for her with that smile still on his face?—

Okay, she was eighty percent sure that he wasn’t human. And she wasn’t going that fast. If she hit him?—

Seventy percent?

Her hands tightened on the wheel.

Then he leapt into the air. Her foot pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floor board, and she blazed straight ahead, going as fast as she could.

One hundred percent certain.

She risked a glance in the rearview mirror. The hunter stood behind her car, staring after her with his head tilted to the side.

Thanks to her new vampire senses, she could easily see him—and the grim smile that still curved his lips as he watched her drive away.

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