The Rabbit and the Raven: Book Two in the Solas Beir Trilogy by Melissa Eskue Ousley Read Free Book Online Page B

a positive ID to guess what it was and what it wanted. He had encountered that kind of monster before. But he did recognize the girl.
    “That’s Marisol!” Jon shouted. “One of the Shadows is after her!” He could see Marisol try for the inn’s front door and then change directions, veering back to the sidewalk. She leapt away from the Shadow’s long claws, and it slammed into the door. As the blur of black resumed its chase, Jon could see that a long crack had formed in the carved wood. “Stop the car!” he yelled, grasping the handle to open the van’s sliding door.
    “Dad! Stop—please!” Abby pleaded. The van skidded to a halt as Abby’s father hit the brakes. Abby looked around the vehicle, which was already full with her family, David, Cael, and Jon and his mom. “Make room guys—she’s coming with us.”
     
     
     
    Marisol saw the van jerk to a stop, and was amazed to watch the door slide wide open. Jon was waving at her, frantically shouting her name. She flew toward him and threw herself into the van, landing on his lap with relative grace as he yanked the door closed, the creature still in pursuit.
    Abby shouted, “She’s in, Dad. Hit it!”
    Abby’s father hit the gas.
    “Are you okay?” Jon asked, looking her over.
    “I am now. You have impeccable timing,” Marisol huffed, trying to catch her breath. She put her arms around his neck, relieved to be safe, for now, at least. The creature was still out there. She remembered the feeling of its hot, putrid breath on her skin, its snapping jaws inches from her heels as it chased her. Her heart pounded as wildly as a prey animal’s thinking about it. Because that’s what she was to that creature. Prey.
    She looked around at the others in the vehicle, wedged tightly into the minivan’s middle and back seats. “Hey, Abby…David,” she said slowly, still in shock. She felt her whole body trembling. Apparently Jon did too. He stared at her, a question in his eyes. She managed a weak smile and wrapped her arms tighter around him, trying to stop shaking.
    “Hey Sol,” David said from his position between Abby and a kid in the back. “Welcome to the crazy van.”
    “Thanks,” Marisol said, swallowing, trying to slow the beating of her heart. “You saw the giant cat monster chasing me too, right? Or am I the crazy one?”
    “Yeah. We saw it,” David assured her. “That’s why we’re all crowded in here like it’s a clown car—we’re trying to get away from those things.”
    “Well, they were all over the beach, and everyone was running away, screaming and freaked out, but they’re gone now, except for the one that was after me,” Marisol said.
    “Any idea where they went?” Jon asked.
    “None, which is really scary, because I think they eat people...they must have gotten Joe, and I saw one drag Michal into the grove. And one of them wounded Monroe really badly—but she’s safe now in the inn. That thing came after me when I went back out to look for the others. Wherever those creatures went, we should head in the opposite direction and get help,” Marisol finished in a rush, finally taking a breath.
    The woman sitting beside Jon was thin with tousled, dark, shoulder-length hair and Jon’s brown eyes. The look on her face seemed to be one of shock or horror. Maybe both. Marisol was painfully aware of how crazy she must sound. She turned to the woman and held out her hand. “Hello. I’m Marisol Cassidy, by the way.”
    “Nice to meet you,” the woman replied, shaking Marisol’s hand. “I’m Jon’s mom, Blanca Reyes. Are you sure you’re okay? That creature didn’t hurt you?”
    “No, but it would have killed me, I think, if it had the chance. Thanks for the lift,” Marisol quipped, her voice quivering a little. She tried a smile again, willing herself to calm down.
    “Anytime,” David replied. He seemed annoyingly calm, as if homicidal cat monsters were yesterday’s news. Marisol stared at him in disbelief.