Personal Demons by Stacia Kane Read Free Book Online Page B

whoever…whatever it was. For some reason she didn’t think the presence in the dark was human. By the time she knew the thing’s location it would be too late.
    Someone giggled, a high-pitched gurgling twitter. The sound sent shivers up her spine. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might explode. She hadn’t been this scared since…well, since she was sixteen.
    Realization hit her and she almost laughed. This was an after-effect of her odd dream. This wasn’t the first time it had happened. She’d always assumed it was because of her abilities, that somehow her subconscious stayed alert for longer. Given that she’d just revisited that long-ago winter, it was no wonder this was happening now. The sweat on her brow started to dry and she once again felt the coolness of the temperature-controlled room. She must be more tired than she’d thought, to panic like that. What did she think, that some sort of evil creature stalked her in the hospital?
    She strode back in what she thought was the direction of the hall, with her left arm outstretched. Soon she would touch a wall and follow it back to the Fearbusters room.
    Something cold grabbed her hand, something hard and scaly and wet. “Megan,” said a voice, the same slithery voice she’d heard giggle a moment before. The speaker was right next to her ear.
    Megan screamed. She swung her purse but only hit her own left hip. She didn’t even feel the impact. She triedto pull away but the thing that held her refused to let go, squeezing her hand so hard she thought she could feel the bones rubbing together. She heard a high wordless wail and realized, as her throat began to hurt, the cry was her own.
    Then—as suddenly as it had grabbed her—the hand let her go.
    The lights came back on.
    She was alone.
    Â 
    â€œM EGAN ?”
    Still shaking, Megan turned. Art walked towards her. “I thought I heard you scream. Is everything okay?”
    Megan nodded and forced herself to speak. “I thought I saw a rat.”
    â€œOh, no, how terrible.” Art glanced around the lobby. “Where?”
    â€œIt was probably nothing. I’m afraid I’m a little tired.” The last thing she wanted was for him to insist on looking for it. “Could you just let me out, please?”
    â€œOf course.” He leaned over the receptionist’s desk. The buzzer sounded and the door clicked. “I should have told you where the switch was.”
    â€œThat’s okay. Thanks, Art.” Nothing had ever looked better than the smooth-mown lawn outside the building. Megan practically ran for it. Her body still buzzed with adrenaline, her mind twisted in confused circles.
    â€œWe’ll see you again,” he called after her. She didn’t bother to answer.
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    M EGAN KNEW CITY POLLUTION choked the air outside, but the breeze dried the cold sweat on her skin and the faint odor of exhaust smelled like freedom. The parking lot was still brightly lit; the cars still in their neat rows like children bunked up for the night. She headed straight for her car, seeking the safety of its steel body. Dante was nowhere to be seen and, at that moment, she didn’t care. She hoped he wouldn’t show up. All she wanted was to go home and curl up in her bed with a good romance novel and a bag of potato chips.
    Headlights flashed to her left. The car’s engine was so quiet she hadn’t noticed it. She glanced toward the flash—a Jaguar…Dante’s Jag.
    â€œGet in.” Dante’s voice. He was standing on the driver’s side, leaning on the top of the low-slung car.
    â€œI’m not getting in your car with you.”
    â€œYou called me and asked me to meet you here.”
    â€œYes, to meet me here and talk, not to go driving around the city with you.”
    He glanced at the Outpatient Center, then looked at Megan again. “Come on. If I was going to attack you I would have