Dark Rising, Miya Chanda [ebook reader online TXT] 📗

lost his grip on the doorframe and the beast slid his bloodied body into the darkness.

There was an eerie silence that settled. Not a complete silence, there was a rhythmic panting sound of an animal that lingered and as she watched, a sleek, shinny coated jaguar came stalking out of the shadows of the bathroom and into the dimly moon lit bedroom. Her heart caught in the back of her throat and she froze, the sound of her heartbeat growing increasingly loud in her ears. She couldn’t move, couldn’t breath, she could only watch, as the large cat made its way closer to her, preparing to strike at anytime.

To her amazement and beyond anything she had ever seen in her life, the large cat stopped, set back on its hunches before busting into a shimmering host of blue and white light. A spectacle of magic, as a man crouched on the floor suddenly appeared in its place.

His breath was ragged and part of her rejoiced when she saw the bullet hole at his shoulder glistening with a heavy a coat of dark blood.

She’d hit him!

No, wait. She’d shot a man.

The cat/man seemed unaffected by the gapping hole at his shoulder and stood with such lethal and flawless effort, it made her knees knock and an icy cold current of fear rushed through every vein in her body.

The length of his stand seemed endless and it was only until he was fully erect, towering over her, did she realize he was much taller than Dominique.

She glanced into the bathroom. Dominique. Was he dead?

Oddly enough the fact that the cat/man was completely naked had no affect on her as it would have under normal circumstances. She’d only ever seen naked men in those naughty movies she use to watch, but never in real life.

His skin shimmered a moon kissed bronze. Muscles roped over him, defining his broad shoulders, arms and tightly ripped abs.

She instinctively took a few steps back, short from running, when he closed the remaining distance between them in two large strides.

She held her breath and he grabbed her arm, clasping it surprisingly gentle for the amount of force he presented.

A scream tried to work its way out of her throat but his other hand closed over her mouth in a tight vise, much more aggressively then the grip at her arm. It forced her head back and her eyes up and it was only then she noticed the scar that graced the left side of his face. He brought her body close to his and she could feel the true hardness of his body against her soft curves.

He was going to kill her, just like he’d killed Dominique in that aggressive cat form. She was a good as dead.

Though, she’d often played out her own death over and over in her mind, the way she knew her death would come, this hadn’t been it.

This wasn’t the way she was supposed to die. She was suppose to die for the sake of mankind, for a greater good when the time came, not by some half-man, half-cat monster who hid in people bathrooms at night.

He lowered his face to hers and even in the dark she could make out the deep green color in his eyes dusted with gold. But there was something else, something strange and unnatural. It wasn’t just the fact that he was a cat. There was a haze riding in the fronts of those eyes.

“I’m here to save your worth.” He said. And with that, he took her with him in that burst of shimmering light until all went black.
Chapter 3

Chapter 3


Wake up.

My eyes opened and I took in a generous breath of air, as if I’d been placed underwater for hours. Five seconds ticked by, as I watched the spinning blades of the ceiling fan above me wobble off balance.

My mind was a fog, a heavy layer of smoke, clouding my ability to think properly, to understand. I laid there a few seconds longer, searching for an inner landmark, evidence, a memory that would stand out, something that would remind me who I was, where I was.

Something shifted inside of me, something familiar. It stood in the backdrop of my mind, a sleek image of a cat standing to stretch, nudging me with its head, with its tail. Our tail. My panther.

I set up as a hollow panic urged its way to the surface of my consciousness but what accompanied me was a headache that forced my eyes shut. I gripped my forehead with one hand, clinching my teeth. It felt like a ball of little needles had exploded and were pressing up sharp against the inside of my head. With the piecing pain came a flush of imagery, quick, sharp and incoherent, like a distorted projector. The images felt like pieces of a dream, the movements and the sounds were jagged, ripped from the seam and glued back together into a mess. None of it made any sense. All except for the last image I saw which reverberated into a solid picture and with it came a flush of ragging energy as only one name came to mind.

Alex.

“Bitch.” I squeezed through my teeth and another dose of sharp pain stabbed at my forehead. Tears threatened to burn the back of my eyes, but I forced them back, enduring the agony I’d taught myself to embrace long ago. Pain was my friend.

The image of myself sitting at the bar with Alex wobbled, only mocking me further and I realized her charms and flirtatious antics towards me had been nothing but a distraction, a guileful ploy, giving her a chance to lace my drink. No, It couldn’t have been her, I’d been watching her the whole time and there was no way she could have done it, unless she had help. The bartender perhaps? I shook my head at the thought, trying to wan the urge to vomit at the betrayal.

Holding my head in both hands, I kept my eyes shut and swept my feet to the side of the bed. A slight muffled sound forced my eyes back opened to look up and I quickly became aware that I was no longer in my hotel room.

There was a rustic, wooden coffee table with a closed laptop that set right in front of me and the furrow that had formed between my brows grew even more as I looked around. The bed I thought I’d been sleeping on was actually a well-worn couch and as I stood to take in the rest of the area I realized I was in a small apartment. Where I stood must have been the living room because there was a small island that separated that area from the kitchen. A short hallway with a closet at each wall led into the bathroom to my right and a closed door, I imagined which led into a bedroom, to my left.

“Hello!” My voice was harsh and gritty.

No one answered.

I cleared my throat and tried again. “Naurius…Caleb!” Still no answer, but another rustling noise shifted my attention to the crack under the door to the bedroom.

I only hoped that the men hadn’t gotten pulled into Alex’s shenanigans, but a part of me had a bad feeling, especially after seeing the flash back of imagery after waking up, something wasn’t right.

I started to make my way to the bedroom door but as I approached a buzzing sound drew my attention to the counter top of the island. My phone set on top vibrating and I backtracked to answer it. Maybe it was one of the men.

“Hello.”

“Kayden.”

Luck wasn’t on my side and I let out an audible breath in response. It was Alex, and her voice was annoyingly pleasant.
“How are you doing?”

I tired my best to compose the swelling heat burning under my façade. “If I could reach through this phone to grab your neck, I’d gladly show you.”

“Now, now. That’s no way to greet a friend.”

Friends? Fuck friends they weren’t friends. “Cut the shit, Alex. What the fuck is going on? How did I get here? Did you drug me?” The thought of her using some kind of highly potent date rape drug on me churned the stomach. Whatever drug she’d used, though, would have to have been strong enough to take out a half a mortal football team at least. Valarians just weren’t susceptible to the average human drug dosage.

“Questions, questions, questions. I’m not sure you’re ready to know what you did last night and this afternoon.”

Afternoon? I glanced around in search of a clock, not having noticed the time of day. A side table set to the right side of the couch, and a digital clock set on top, red numbers glaring back at me. It was a little past 7 p.m. and a heavy dread washed over me as I realized I’d lost almost an entire day. What had I done? I couldn’t remember anything that wasn’t shredded in the haze of mess I’d woken up to.

The last solid image in my memory was waiting to meet with Alex in the lounge. I ordered a drink. She showed up, we talked or rather flirted. I finished my drink and then…and then. It was blank. I couldn’t remember.

“You still there?”

I let out a shaky breath, a mixture of emotion lacing my response. “What did you do to me?” Where were my men? And a bitter tasted began to swirl in my mouth. It was my responsibility to keep them safe, to make sure they were prepared. If anything happened to them while doing this contract--. “Where are Caleb and Naurius?” I couldn’t even finish the thought.

“Calm down, Kayden.”

“I’ll calm down, when I damn well please. Now, where are they?”

She ignored my simmering anger and instead responded with, “I was instructed to call and inform you of what’s going to happen over then next 24-48 hours.”

What the hell was she talking about?

“I’m going to give you, your assignment. And you are going to follow my orders without question. Do you understand?”

Total shock must have taken control of me because the next thing that came out of flying out of my mouth was, “Go fuck yourself.” Before hanging up.

I ran a hand through my hair as I pressed the end button, not having noticed until now that I’d began