Dark Awakening by Kendra Leigh Castle Read Free Book Online

her thoughts so quickly. All she needed was sleep, shedecided. Lots and lots of sleep. She could take care of herself perfectly well, just as she’d told Bay. And there was nothing
wrong
with her.
    “I’ll bring burgers by the shop tomorrow so you can tell me all,” Lily said, forcing a cheerful note into her voice.
    “Sounds good,” Bay said with a nod. “I’ll probably need the moral support. Moses comes in tomorrow.”
    Lily shuddered in sympathy. Bay owned a successful dog-grooming business, and a lot of that success had come because she loved pretty much anything with fur, even if it was ornery. She even loved Moses, the excitable Saint Bernard that, though friendly, seemed to have some kind of canine ADD. And he was a serious drooler.
    “Burgers from Frank’s it is, then,” Lily said. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find some tiny spot to eat that isn’t covered with slime.”
    “Your lips to God’s ears,” Bay said. “And speaking of covered in slime, I guess I’ll go get beautiful for the cute techno-geek. Wish me luck!”
    Lily did, and watched Bay bounce back up the aisle and out the door. As the door clicked shut, Lily’s smile faded. She turned to slowly finish gathering her things, feeling her fatigue weighing on her as though sandbags had been tied to all of her limbs. She wasn’t even going to stop by her office. She was just going to get in her car, drive home with the window open so she was sure to stay alert, and then collapse into bed.
    After that, well, she could only hope that her sleep was full of pleasant dreams, or at least unmemorable ones. Or even just dark oblivion. All of those options were far better than watching the woman with the red hair be slaughtered again, her blood turning her green silk dress blackwhile her baby screamed somewhere in the darkness beyond and all the world went up in flames.
    Better than waking up with her strange tattoo burning with white-hot pain.
    It tingled even as she thought it, and Lily shuddered, pushing the visions from her mind and focusing on the tasks at hand. She slid the papers into her messenger bag, along with the notes she’d used for the day’s lecture, then shrugged into the soft leather jacket that had been one of her splurges for the fall. The bag slung over one shoulder, her travel mug collected, she was off. A couple of her students waved at her as she exited Digby Hall and headed down the path that led to one of the smaller parking lots tucked behind the lecture halls.
    She breathed in the crisp autumn air, surprised at how dark it was getting this early in the day. The sun was gone, and what light was left had turned the sky a deep bloodred that was rapidly fading in the west. Her steps were quick, the sound of her low boot heels clicking against the pavement in the quiet being punctuated only occasionally by the sounds of distant chatter. Lily watched a student hop into her car and drive off, the only other person in sight. Unease unfurled, quickly and unexpectedly, in her stomach. What was she trying to do, become a poster girl for how to get bad things to happen to you?
    “I’m not the stupid girl who always dies first in horror movies,” she told herself. “My boobs aren’t big enough.”
    The thought made her smile a little, but Lily still sped up as she caught sight of her car, now surrounded by empty parking spaces. She was just pulling her keys from her pocket when she felt the hair on the back of her neck begin to rise. Her steps quickened. Instinctively, she knew shewas no longer alone—and she was being very carefully watched. Every movement. Every rapid beat of her heart.
    Lily swallowed hard, drew in a shallow breath. Without even looking, she knew who it was. Her encounter with Tynan MacGillivray might have sent her into a tailspin, might have left her in a fog that hadn’t completely lifted, but she would never forget how his very presence had made her feel, as though she were nothing but a tiny,