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Chapters (43)
  1. HUNTER SHEA
  2. For Tim Stanton.
  3. ‘Normality is a paved road. It’s comfortable to walk, but no flowers grow on it.’
  4. ‘How can I be substantial if I do not cast a shadow? I must have a dark side also if I am to be whole.’
  5. Chapter One
  6. Chapter Two
  7. Chapter Three
  8. Chapter Four
  9. Chapter Five
  10. Chapter Six
  11. Chapter Seven
  12. Chapter Eight
  13. Chapter Nine
  14. Chapter Ten
  15. Chapter Eleven
  16. Chapter Twelve
  17. Chapter Thirteen
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Chapter Fifteen
  20. Chapter Sixteen
  21. Chapter Seventeen
  22. Chapter Eighteen
  23. Chapter Nineteen
  24. Chapter Twenty
  25. Chapter Twenty-One
  26. Chapter Twenty-Two
  27. Chapter Twenty-Three
  28. Chapter Twenty-Four
  29. Chapter Twenty-Five
  30. Chapter Twenty-Six
  31. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  32. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  33. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  34. Chapter Thirty
  35. Chapter Thirty-One
  36. Chapter Thirty-Two
  37. Chapter Thirty-Three
  38. Chapter Thirty-Four
  39. Chapter Thirty-Five
  40. Chapter Thirty-Six
  41. Afterword
  42. About this book
  43. FLAME TREE PRESS

Help never came.

Chapter Thirty

Andrew and Nikki had fallen asleep on the hard floor. Buttons lay by the back door like a prostrate guardian, one ear flopped over his eyes.

Ryker was still out in the chair, a blanket pulled up to his chest. Kate inspected the wounds on his face. They appeared to be getting redder, the swelling increasing. There was no telling what diseases lurked in the nails of the monster. She had a feeling that even if they were able to get him to a hospital right now, doctors wouldn’t know how to heal him.

Even though the creature was flesh and blood, it didn’t feel as if it were part of this world. The infected cells it deposited in her brother’s torn face would be beyond medical science. Weeping quietly, she stroked her brother’s arm, wishing with all her might that he’d wake up and somehow start to get better all on his own. Just like the classes he taught: if he could think it, it would become reality.

“Oh, Ryker,” she whispered, leaning over to kiss the one spot on his head that hadn’t been ravaged or crusted with dried blood.

For once, she was the only one awake. The pain wouldn’t allow her to close her eyes, even for a second. She had intentionally skipped her medication because she didn’t want to be in a narcotic fog. She couldn’t afford to be. Yes, she still had her fentanyl patch on her arm, but it was due to be changed later today and most of the drug had already been absorbed into her system. She’d had more than her share of misery over the years, but the absence of the pain-dulling meds had brought her to a whole new level of hell. Every nerve, muscle, and joint was on fire. Her stomach felt necrotic, her lungs constricted because breathing hurt too much.

Worst of all were the steady knife-lunges to her heart. They were almost like a pregnant woman’s contractions. If Kate could have reached her tablet and set the timer, she’d bet they were coming closer and closer together with each passing hour. Only she didn’t have a beautiful new life to look forward to holding in her arms. These pains would give birth to something dark and final.

Sunlight sneaked past the blinds and curtains, giving her enough light to walk about the cottage without tripping herself. The candles had burned out long ago, trapping her in the predawn darkness, ears straining for a hint of the creature’s return.

But it had stayed away, and there was a glimmer of hope that Andrew had shot it, a stroke of blind luck that was due them.