Rayanna jammed the key into the squad car's ignition. Grantham dove into the seat behind her as voracious snarls neared his doorway and overtook the waking engine's whine. She twisted to glance back. The officer croaked, "Go." Arms smeared in muck and blood, he slammed his door with a crunch and…
Pine switches stung Rayanna's face as hurtled through the steep, brush-strangled path. As if a mountainside gullet choked her downhill. Stifled grunts followed her, in step with the thumps of Grantham's uneven gait. But the sinister tirade pursuing them in the darkness kept her from asking about him. Growls. Clawed earth.…
Spindly branches clawed her flailing arms as she stumbled onward. Slowing, Rayanna glanced over her shoulder. "Bowery?" Hoarse breathing roiled through the forest path. Animal or human? No way to tell. She sprinted further down the mountainside. The misty tunnel of brush thickened, swallowing the flashlight's beam before her feet. The…
A current of rasped breath wove through the inky brush hemming the path. The hoarse panting rose to an eddy of low growls. Rayanna's throat squeezed her voice to a rodent-like whisper. "I hear it." A twig snapped within a few feet of the narrow trail. "What do we do?" The…
The leaves shivered around her in a faint breath of icy air. Rayanna drew the borrowed coat to a close around her chest, gathering its worn fabric in her fist. "Lethean?" Officer Bowery's flashlight beam bobbed over the uneven terrain ahead. "If you've got a better name for yourself, I'm listening."…
The earthy scent of oaken decay clung in the damp night air. Hints of a disturbing odor wafted through the brush. Dank, feral. Rayanna ducked under a low branch and shuffled downhill, skidding a bit on the moss and leaves underfoot. She nearly collided into the officer as he slowed his…
Misty tendrils snaked between Rayanna and the officer as they crept down the mountain's inky, tangled face. Clouds mauled the full moon to further darken their forest swamped trail. They crept after the officer's bobbing flashlight ray, though low, murky fog swallowed its edges. Despite a void of words, the forbidden…
Rayanna folded her shoulders inward, but the bitter night wind thrashed against her bare skin. The chill intensified the quiver in her voice as the knife-wielder inched over the threshold toward her, right hand behind his back. She stammered, "I--it was a camping accident. At least, I think so." "What do…
Rayanna twisted her sweat-slicked wrist and wrenched free from his grip. He snatched the hem of her blouse and snarled. "No, you don't." She pulled away with every ounce of strength. "Lemme go!" Her shirt ripped as she lunged for the door. The rent fabric peeled from her body and scraped…
She howled as the fiery steel sizzled against her flesh. Burnt skin odors burrowed into her senses. Writhing, she thrashed against the rocker. Jerked against the crazed stranger's grip. "Hold still." Cursing, Reeve wrenched her wrist in a tightening grip. "You ain't goin' nowhere." He peeled the blade away, ripping a…