Forever Night (Darkness Falls Book 3)

Chapter Eight

Terror was like fever burning through my whole body, making me pulse hot and cold. The steady, controlled way I usually ran had devolved into a desperate, almost ungainly dash along the street, my arms practically windmilling as I struggled to maintain momentum.

Running full-speed like this would only take me minutes to get home, but each second felt like it was stretching into a year, until it seemed it would take a lifetime to get there.

Terrible visions scorched my mind – arriving home to find Luke dead on the floor, or finding Rachel holding him, ready to rip out his throat like she'd done to Georgia. That seemed more like something she'd do – wait until I was there to kill him. She'd want me to see it.

A sob clawed out of my throat and I almost tripped. The pavement ahead was a just a smear of grey through my tears. I veered close to someone's hedge and small branches seemed to clutch at me as I passed, like they were trying to keep me from getting home. Or keep me from seeing what had happened to Luke.

Our house came into view and I put on an extra burst of speed. Usually I could run fast for much longer than this, but I felt as if I'd gone a marathon; my heart thumped in my chest and my lungs were scoured raw. With shaking hands, I fumbled in my pocket for the key. When I finally located it, I couldn't get the damn thing in the lock. My fingers shook so badly they were like damp noodles, flopping uselessly over the key and the lock.

I rested my head against the door and took several deep, gulping breaths. "Please," I whispered, to any god or force of fate that might be listening. "Please let him be okay."

I finally got the key in the lock and turned it. The door swung inwards and I almost collapsed, not realising how much I was leaning on it.

"Luke?" I tried to scream his name, but all I could muster was a hoarse whisper.

The foyer was in darkness, all the black curtains drawn, but the kitchen door was ajar and a slice of artificial light peeped out. I charged into the kitchen, fear drawing my chest so tight I could hardly breathe.

Luke stood at the microwave, emptying a bag of blood into a mug. He turned when I came in and flashed me a beautiful grin that faded into concern once he got a good look at me.

"Kiara? What's wrong?" He put down the mug and hurried towards me.

I crossed our little kitchen in two strides and fell into his arms. All I could hear was his wonderful heart beating, and all I could feel was the wonderful strength of his arms around me. The fear drained away and relief flooded in, leaving me shaking and shuddering.

"Hey, hey, what's going on?" Gently Luke cupped my face, lifting it to his. His thumb lingered near the bruise that the bearded vampire's fist had left.

I couldn't speak. Relief had formed a thick knot in my throat and I couldn't seem to get past it. All the terrible images of Luke dead or dying were still burned into the back of my mind, horrifying possibilities that could still come to pass if Rachel had her way.

Concern shifted to anger on Luke's face, his eyes hardening. "Rachel?" he guessed.

I managed a nod.

"Are you hurt? What did she do to you?" He started to gently check me over, looking for more serious injuries.

At last I found my voice. "I'm not hurt."

Luke paused with his hands on my hips. "What did she do?"

"She..." I swallowed, forcing out the words. "She killed Georgia."

"What?" Confusion warred with anger on his face. "Georgia? What's she got to do with any of this?"

"Rachel thought she was my friend." I swallowed again, wishing I could erase from my brain that awful moment when Rachel tore out her throat. Better than that, I wished there was something I could have done to stop the mad vampire.

Luke tried to steer me into a chair, but I put my hands against his chest, resisting him. "We have to warn the others."

"They already know about Rachel," he reminded me.

"No," I cried.

Luke thought they knew about Rachel because of what she did to Leon. He didn't understand what else was going on here.

"She told me that she is going to kill everyone I care about," I told him.

I didn't add that she'd threatened him first, but the steady anger that settled over his features told me he understood. I wouldn't have charged home like a bat out of hell if I hadn't thought he was in danger.

"You have to call the others and tell them to get over here now."

He didn't ask questions, just started making calls, while I sank into a chair and willed my heart rate to slow down.

Now that I'd got over the initial terror and the immediate relief that followed it, a sick feeling settled in my stomach. Rachel had never meant to come after Luke tonight. Threatening him had been part of her game. It didn't mean she didn't plan to kill him – I absolutely believed her when she said she'd go after everyone I cared about – but she didn't plan on doing it tonight. She just knew how much it would hurt me if she threatened him.

Luke put down the phone. "Ethan and Riley have gone out for the evening, and Ethan's not answering his phone."

Fear rose inside me again, but Luke put both hands on my shoulders, calming me. "It's okay, Kiara. My dad's going to look for them. Elena's on her way here."

"Samuel can't go out on his own. It's too dangerous," I insisted.

Luke threaded his fingers through my hair and bent to kiss me. The warm touch of his lips on mine drew away some of the fear threatening to drown me.

"He knows what we're dealing with. He'll be careful," Luke said.

"That's not good enough." I didn't doubt that Samuel would be careful, but he'd been caught by Noah and Caleb before, and he'd been careful then.

I started to get to my feet and Luke held me in place, gently but firmly. "Kiara, I need you to calm down. Rachel's already struck once tonight – it's not in her usual pattern to do it again."

There was more to it than that, but he didn't say it. He didn't need to – I understood. Rachel wanted to make me suffer by killing everyone I loved. And the best way to do that was to prolong it. She could try and kill everyone in one go, or she could strike intermittently, repeatedly opening up new wounds in my heart until I just couldn't take it anymore. That was far more her style. She would systematically strip away everything I loved, and I'd never know when she was going to strike next. By the end of her vicious campaign, I'd be a shattered wreck, too beaten down to fight back when she finally came for me.

The only comfort I could draw from that was that she wouldn't go after Samuel tonight, or Ethan and Riley. She'd already killed Georgia and threatened Luke, and that was more than enough to keep me looking over my shoulder in constant fear.

Elena turned up a few minutes later, her face taut with worry. She didn't say anything when she saw me, just pulled me into her arms and held me the way my biological mother never had.

"We'll get through this," she whispered. "We will not let Rachel win." There was a fierce edge to her voice that I didn't normally associate with pretty, delicate-looking Elena, but that was hardly surprising. Rachel had hurt me, hurt Luke, her vampires had bitten Riley, almost killed Elena herself, and then set fire to her home. Elena wanted Rachel dead as much as anyone.

I nodded, my throat closing up again.

Someone knocked on the door and Elena stiffened. I pulled away from her, the urge to hit something slowly coursing through my veins. If this was another of Rachel's games...

Luke went to answer it, and a moment later, he reappeared, his face grim. "It's the police," he said. "They want to talk to Kiara."