The Departed by J. A. Templeton Read Free Book Online

it, turned the engine over on the first crank.
    Kade’s lips split into a wide smile.
    The first few laps I was a bit wobbly, and I’ll admit, I was nervous, especially when I nearly lost control after going a little too fast over one jump.
    On the third lap around, I noticed what looked like the girl who had been sacrificed from my dream, standing by a tree.
    I rode past Kade, who was leaning back on his elbows, legs crossed at the ankle, and grinning from ear to ear.
    I had surprised him, I knew that, and, in a way, I was surprising myself. It felt incredible.
    The girl was there; this time she stepped out from the tree and gestured toward something behind me. I looked over my shoulder, and the entire bike went the same direction. I overcorrected and almost hit the side of another jump. I rounded the corner and started heading back toward Kade, and immediately saw what the girl was referring to.
    My stomach dropped to my toes.
    Laria, Randall, and the coven were coming up behind Kade.
    I pulled back on the throttle and held on, skipping off the track and onto the grass. Big mistake. It was bumpier than the track.
    Kade stood up and brushed at his butt, and a scream froze in my throat when Randall came up right behind him.
    The witches made like a wall behind Randall. I gunned it even more, knowing I was pushing it.
    Kade’s eyes were wide when I pulled up beside him and killed the engine. “Wow, you constantly surprise me.”
    I heard the pride in his voice, and yet I couldn’t savor the small victory, not when we were surrounded by the enemy.
    “We will kill him and all that you hold dear,” Laria said, coming up from beside Kade, sliding a hand over his shoulder, down his bicep, to rest on his hand.
    Kade brushed at his arm, like an insect had landed on him.
    My heart missed a beat. He actually felt her…
    “I don’t understand what you want from me,” I said, speaking in my mind. “I don’t get it. Why not just let it go. Ian is gone. Kade is here, but we’re alive. You’re not.”
    Laria hovered above the ground a good six inches, and then even higher. I know she tried to intimidate me, and quite frankly, she was doing a pretty damn good job, especially surrounded by Randall and the coven.
    For the first time, I got a look at the faces of some of the others. They ranged from my age to like sixty. I was stunned that they were all against me. How could so many people I had never met before hate me so much? What had I ever done to them, aside from help Ian cross over?
    “Do you trust me?” I asked Kade.
    He frowned. “Of course. Why…”
    “We need to go right now.”
    His eyes widened. “They’re here?”
    I nodded.
    “What do they want?”
    “Me.”
    He grabbed my hand, thrust his helmet on, and seconds later we were on the bike and flying across the field.
    I held onto him tightly, and I could feel the pounding of his heart against my chest. I have no idea how they were able to do it, but they were moving with us, many just a blur.
    Screams tore through the quiet, drowning out the sound of the motorcycle.
    Fingernails dug into the skin on my back. When the castle came into view, I breathed a sigh of relief.
    I buried my face into Kade’s back, praying for help.
    Laria’s threat that she would kill Kade and all I held dear rang in my ears. What next? If something happened to him, my family, or my friends, I’d never forgive myself.
    My arms tightened around Kade.
    We caught air over the last hill before the castle lawn. Cait and Maddy had been sitting in the courtyard, and came running out.
    I thought for a second Kade might have lost the brakes until he came to a stop a few feet from the courtyard wall. I slid off the bike and removed my helmet. He was off, putting the kick-stand up and removing his helmet.
    “What happened to your shirt?” Maddy asked.
    I glanced over my shoulder. My blouse was torn from the very bottom to just above my bra line.
    Kade’s jaw clenched. “What the hell?