Page 25 of Wicked and Wild

Asshe spoke, a strange thing happened.Thoughshe had never seen it before, suddenly a tunnel appeared in the sky above her.Itwas filled with a warm, golden light andSamcould see a woman’s figure standing there, waving forMichelleto hurry and come to her.

Samfrowned.Butshe wasn’tsupposedto be able to see the entrance to the afterlife!Noneof the living could see it—not unless they were right on the brink of death…

Andthen a hard, cold hand snaked around her throat and squeezed.

“Allright,GhostGirlie,” rasped a low, angry voice in her ear. “You’recoming with me—we’ve got a date!”

15

R’ORN

R’ornlanded his ship right beside the abandoned building and hurried to get out.Buthe froze for a moment in the doorway, plotting his way into the human structure.

Thiswas going to be tricky.Heneeded to stay in the shadows and out of the moonlight as much as possible in order to keep hisBeastat bay.Alreadyhe could feel it demanding to be let out, like a prisoner rattling the bars of his cage.ButforSamantha’ssake, hehadto keep it locked up inside.Itwasn’t safe for her if theBeastcame out.Ifit—

Andthen he heard a strangled scream and all his thoughts went right out the window as he plunged into the night.

16

SAM

“It’sme,GhostGirlie—Slasher69!” the male voice rasped in her ear. “Howcome you ignored me, huh?AllIwanted was a date, but you wouldn’t even answer any of my comments!Youeven tried to report me!”

“Becauseevery single comment you left me was sick and disgusting!”Samgasped.Hisfingers wrapped around her throat made it hard to breathe—let alone talk.Shecouldn’t see his face—not just because it was dark, though.Hewas wearing aHalloweenmask—a demonic one with elongated features and a twisted grin.Itreminded her of one of those awful home invasion torture porn movies where the guy with a mask breaks in and subjects the helpless family to terrible abuse.

Shehad the canister of pepper spray in her hand, but the mask was going to make things difficult.Maybeif she could spray the stuff right in his eyes, she could buy herself enough time to escape.Butwhat if the mask blocked it and he didn’t let her go?

Ohwhy hadn’t she gotten herself a different weapon?Likea stun gun.Ora real gun?Shecould have gotten one easily enough—Florida’sridiculous new gun laws meant that practically anyone could go buy a gun at any time and carry it around with them wherever they went with absolutely no consequences.

“Youshould have answered my comments.Youshould have met me for a date,”Slasher69rasped. “Butyou didn’t—you rejected me and now you have to pay the consequences!”

Helifted his other hand andSamsaw the gleam of metal in the moonlight.

Abutcher knife!OhmyGod, he’s going to stab me to death!

Shethought about trying to rip the mask off but there was no time.

“Letgo of me, you asshole!” she shouted.Andlifting the canister of pepper spray, she blasted a stream of the toxic stuff at the eyeholes of the demon mask.

Slasher69jerked his head up and gasped but didn’t let go of her throat.Infact, his grip only tightened, cutting off more ofSam’sair and making her feel like she might pass out.

“Youlittle cunt!” he snarled, shaking his head andSamsaw that she must have missed.Thoughthe acrid scent of the pepper spray hung in the air, the mask had protected her attacker from the worst of it.Infact, she was worse off than him.Thefumes burned her eyes and the insides of her nostrils, making her choke and cough.

“Leave…me…alone!” she managed to croak out.

“Never!You’regoing to pay for ignoring me,GhostGirlie!Paywith your life!” he snarled.

Thesilver blade rose again, flashing in the moonlight.Samtried to brace for the impact.Wouldit hurt very much, being sliced to ribbons?Shewas very much afraid that it would.

Shouldhave listened toAuntLuna!Shouldn’thave sent myProtectoraway!she thought dimly.Ohplease…

Butthough she waited, the knife never came down.Instead, she heard a choked cry of pain from the man holding her.

Lookingup through streaming eyes, she saw that a huge hand was locked aroundSlasher69’s wrist.

“Letgo of her, you fucker!” a deep, familiar voice growled. “Howdare you hurt my female?”

“R’orn?” she gasped, because the hugeKindredwas suddenly looming over both her and her attacker.

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