Night Falls on the Wicked by Sharie Kohler Read Free Book Online

stirred out there in the vast whiteness of the town, and she began to wonder if she’d heard the scream at all. Or had it been in her head, a wisp of a nightmare? Maybe tonight’s run hadn’t been enough protection, after all.
    Surely there’d be light from other windows along the street if it had been real. Mr. Gilberry, the barber across the street, lived in his shop. How could he have slept through that terrible sound? There hadto be someone else concerned, curious. Someone …
    And then she saw him, a shadowy figure out late on a night when everyone else remained warm indoors, snug and safe. When every other soul was in bed, this figure was strolling the sidewalk with a steady, purposeful pace, as if waiting for someone. Or something.
    As though he felt her stare, he stopped and turned. His gaze swung up, directly to her window and into her eyes. A small shiver rushed over her. Her chest grew tight, her breath hard to catch. Instantly, she knew him.
    Even across the distance his eyes glowed. She felt those indigo eyes like a stroke, a touch against her shivery skin.
    Before she had a chance to turn from the window and pretend she didn’t notice him, a distant howl floated on the air. Others joined in, the sound awful and eerie.
    She tried to peer down the far length of the street to the single blinking stoplight. She didn’t know what she expected to see. Wolves parading down the street? The cries were coming from somewhere outside town, much farther away. With another shiver, she looked again to where the stranger stood.
    But he was gone.

S IX
    M ore loggers than usual crowded the diner and Darby seriously doubted it was Sam’s meatloaf special that lured them in. It was obvious why they were here. The third attack in a month, and this time it was Corey.
    No one ate at Sam’s who didn’t know Corey. She’d been working in the diner since high school. She grew up here. Ironically enough, her death only brought in more customers—as though the diner itself were the scene of the crime. Maggie and Darby could hardly keep up with the orders. Even with all the running she did, she was breathless as she wove between tables.
    Corey was the subject on everyone’s lips, snatches of conversation filling Darby’s ears. She shivered as she recalled her last glimpse of Corey skipping down her porch steps, heading out on her date. And then she shivered again as she recalled
how
she had died. Or at least how people were saying she died.
    Corey’s body had been found just outside of town. Or rather what was left of her body. The explanation for her slaughter was obvious to everyone. Wolves. What else could it be? What else could have done such damage?
    Only Darby wasn’t convinced. Darby knew there were other things out there … things that did not bear simple explanation.
    From the rumble of conversation, she gathered that many of the loggers had abandoned the camps, angry and refusing to return until the wolf threat was “handled.”
    Darby hurried from table to table, refilling glasses and making sure everyone had what they needed and avoiding pointed questions about Corey. She had no answers to give anyway. And the theory that was starting to form in her head would only get her tossed in a padded room.
    She knew she should be grateful for the crowd. The extra tip money was always needed, especially as she was preparing to move on again, but the crowd was a strain. So many people, so many voices. All of it threatened to undo her, to break down her walls, weaken her for a demon’s possession.
    Her thoughts whirred in her head, mingling with the buzz of the crowded diner. She wished she could just take cover from it all.
    She’d give anything for a run, for the steady rhythm of her legs pounding the earth, exorcising her of all troubling thoughts. Maybe after work. She winced and looked out at the diner again, her gaze roaming the full tables. Not likely tonight. Unless she was up for a one a.m. run.
    This thought