Page 79 of After Darkness Falls

Chloe wondered how obvious her change had been. Did she have fangs? Was there something different in her eyes? Did he hate her now?

Jack pulled knives from inside his jacket and threw them close to Levi. The vampire didn't even flinch as they lodged inside the skulls of ferals either side of him.

"Let's see if you can live up to your name, Cheetah. Get out of here."

Maybe he didn't hate her after all. She grinned before saluting and turning her heels away from the fight.

Leaving them was harder than anything she'd ever done, but they were both seasoned fighters, and she knew she'd only be in the way if she stayed. A liability. They might get hurt trying to help her, too.

So, she ran—at first, anyway. It soon became much harder than she'd anticipated. Chloe wasn't much of a cheetah right now—her sides hurt, and she was out of breath and sweating like a pig.

"I smelled something this way."

She froze. She'd never heard that voice. Chloe hadn't asked, but she doubted ferals talked; not in an enunciated way, in any case.

There was a very high probability that some of the gentries were after her. Old, well-trained vampires. At the best of times, she wouldn't have had much of a chance. Right now, feeling so diminished? There was zero hope. Levi had told her to buy herself time until help came, but right now, he, and all her friends, had their hands full.

She needed to hide. But where? They could smell her, hear her. She looked around, panicked.

Then her eyes fell north. She couldn't see it from here, but she knew the way. The path.

In a cave, protected by so many spells your head will spin just going anywhere near it.

He was insane.

Monster.

So many words. So many warnings. All cautioning her to go nowhere near the cave on the hill.

But did she have a choice?

35

A Voice in the Darkness

By the time she'd reached the crossroads, Chloe moved like a puppet with broken strings. She needed to stop. She needed air. Rest. Sleep. But she put one foot after the other, again and again. Past the black tape, through the sinuous, uneven path.

It was a miracle no one had caught her yet. The moment they did, she was gone.

She glanced behind her.

Was it a miracle? She could feel something in the air. A thin, immaterial veil between her and the rest of the world. Magic.

It was faint, but she could sense magic around her.

She remembered. The things in her blood. Nanocytes, Jake's father had said. They were masking her presence, somehow. Hiding her smell, maybe even her noise. They wouldn't help if someone stumbled upon her, but at least no one could hunt her down using their senses.

She needed to send the huntsman a thank-you card. After dawn. If there was a dawn.

The trail continued forever. As she walked further, the foliage became denser, taking over the long-untrodden path.

Was she far enough from the main path? Mikar had said there were spells keeping intruders out, but she hadn't felt anything yet. Would the talks and legends be enough to prevent those hunting her from following her here?

Chloe stilled her resolve. She doubted the ferals remembered the tales, if they'd ever known them. To escape them, she had to find the wards and pass them.

She kept walking, groaning, panting.

Too many had fought—were still fighting—so that she may live. She wouldn't insult them by giving up just because it was hard.

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