| BOOK ONE OF THE VENANDI SAGA | A DARK MAFIA ROMANCE |
Teeth scrape over skin as he nips at my earlobe, "I told you..." Threading his fingers through the strands at my nape, he rolls my head to the side and his lips continue their exploration, "...
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Mealy flack clouds dissolve into splintered fragments of limestone and mortar and the gun clicks empty.
CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!
Non-existent bullets fly at blurry targets as the beast tears from my throat with a savage howl, "Aaaaaaaaaah!" Grief-stricken, it bellows, "Dead! You're fucking dead," over and over until my voice is a strangled hiss, "I'm coming for you, Knox... I'm coming..."Fleeing like the fucking coward he is, Knox's disheveled shadow escapes behind watery, tempered panes. His foggy tux vanishes from view, taking the fight with him and panting, "Haah... Hu-Haah..." I rock back onto my calves. "Run, you sonofabitch."
Instantly, my attention shifts to the battered figure curled next to me, "Shit! E!" Hollow steel clatters from my shaky grasp, "Baby..." freeing me to gently brush back the tuft of chocolate guarding her cheek. Matted ringlets peel away to reveal, "Ah, Christ," a fist-sized bruise and numerous bloody scrapes; her mocha iris is concealed behind a puffy, purplish lid. Specks of putrid green smatter the edges where the skin is puckered from swelling - the sickly olive waning into an ugly yellow. "Jesus," I wince, "What'd he do to you?"
I can't say it's a sucker punch - seeing her like this. The second I woke alone, bleeding and surrounded by signs of a struggle, I knew there was a strong probability she'd be hurt... somehow, but seeing it - knowing without a doubt she isn't okay, has left me reeling. At the same time, that ruthless beast within, the one that never shies from a fight, begs - no, claws - to be unleashed - ripping at my sanity with adamantium blades like Wolverine gone berserk. Seething with unrequited need and suppressed impulse, he roars for me to give chase...
I'm gonna strip the flesh from his bones!
...but the panicked butterflies in my chest have me rummaging for my cell instead. Trembling, "H-Hang o-on, baby," my right hand searches for a pulse while my left fumbles to dial...
10:27 PM
9-1-
All of the sudden, brilliant rays of white light breach the powdery haze, shining down from overhead. Spotlighted by a single beam, I blink in amazement as it glides into position - paralyzed by the pearly halo descending to hover a hundred or so feet above the treeline.
God?
It's only then I notice the choppy whirr of rotor blades. Their steady thump amplifies the dramatic drum solo pounding in my ears. Caught in the helo's downwash, wind slaps at my clothes and hair and I grimace, "Gaaah-Fuck," from the brisk sting of a thousand, tiny whips lashing an open wound. Spent casings rattle and clank across the rugged patio; pastel seat cushions tumble like bushels of dried bramble. Dodging tattered palm fronds, I scramble to shield Eden from circling debris, "Holy shit," ducking last minute to avoid a flurry of gravel shards.
