Hunted_Falling Darkness_Book 3 Read online

  Kate elbowed Ethan. “Might be weapons around town somewhere.”

  “That very well could be the case, but I’m not sure I trust any of them with one of them.” His eyes darted up to the sky. “We need to find a place, and then I can go explore.”

  Kate chuckled. “No, you won’t. At least not alone.”

  “How about that one?” Jasper asked pointing at the last house on the block near the edge of town.

  It was near a section of the fence that had been torn down, but it was a decent sized building that appeared as though it would accommodate Kate’s group. Everyone would fit inside comfortably, and maybe even Kate and Ethan could have their own room.

  Kate watched Ethan as he studied the building. Only a few seconds passed before he turned to her and nodded. He pulled out his gun and placed his foot on the first step leading up to the porch.

  “Wait here,” Ethan said.

  “You’re not going in there alone,” Kate said taking a step closer.

  “Someone needs to stay out here.” Ethan leaned closer to Kate so that the group couldn’t hear him. “To protect them.”

  The air between them tightened. Kate knew he was right, but she couldn’t let him go into the building alone. If the building was filled with The Unholy, he’d need help to fight them off.

  “I can help,” Will said taking a step forward, clicking the back of his pen.

  Kate and Ethan’s eyes darted to his pen at the same time. She held up her hand and shook her head.

  “I’m not afraid to use it,” Will said raising an eyebrow.

  “I’ll go too,” Jasper said pulling out a pocket knife.

  Kate opened her mouth to protest but then noticed all the worried faces looking back at her. The sooner the house was cleared the sooner she could get everyone off of the street.

  “Fine,” Kate said grabbing Will’s hand. She pulled her knife out of its sheath and slapped the handle against his palm. Kate looked into Will’s eyes as she squeezed his fingers closed around the thick handle. “I want this back.”

  “What if you need it?” Will asked.

  Kate dropped his hand and looked at their surroundings. “I’ll see them coming. You might not.”

  “All right, let’s do this,” Ethan said walking up to the front door. He glanced over his shoulder before reaching out to open the door.

  Kate stood at the bottom of the stairs watching them, but they didn’t enter the house. Ethan didn’t need to tell her why they weren’t going inside… the door was locked just like Jet’s office had been.

  “Should I break it down?” Ethan asked.

  Kate chewed her fingernail and just as she was about to answer, she saw the curtain in the upstairs window swaying ever so slightly. Her eyes were focused on the window as she waved them back.

  “There’s someone inside,” Kate whispered.

  “Unholy?” Ethan asked as he stepped up beside her and followed her gaze to the window.

  Kate shook her head. “Do Unholy hide? Whoever is in there is hiding.”

  “Then all the more reason to knock down the door,” Ethan said walking away from her and back up the stairs.

  “Ethan!” Kate whispered as she flapped her hand vigorously.

  He stood in front of the door and pounded the side of his fist hard against the wood. The redness on his arm from the burns he’d suffered practically glowed. If it was painful, Ethan ignored it. Jasper and Will both inched their way closer as their eyes darted from window to window.

  “We just want to talk,” Ethan shouted after halting his knocking. When there wasn’t a response, he started pounding again. Harder.

  Kate watched as the window was jerked open not more than an inch. A shotgun barrel was pushed through the opening and aimed directly at Ethan.

  He hadn’t seemed to notice. “Open up!” Ethan yelled. “We know you’re in there. I’ll knock down this door if I have to.”

  “Ethan!” Kate said taking a step forward. Her eyes darted upward, and she noticed a second gun being aimed in her direction. “Shit.”

  She stopped in her tracks and slowly raised her arms. Will stepped in front of her and held out his arms protectively.

  “Ethan!” Will said with a sharpness that cut through his aggressive knocking.

  “What?” Ethan said, whipping his head around. He squinted when he saw Will’s arm stretched out like eagle’s wings in front of Kate.

  Will pointed at the window. “Gun.”

  “Oh,” Ethan said, his hands dropping to his side. He was as still as a statue. “We don’t want any trouble. We just want to talk.”

  “Well, we don’t want to talk to you,” the voice on the other side of the window said. Kate had barely heard it at her distance, and she was sure the group behind her hadn’t heard anything at all. “Go away!”

  Ethan’s eyes darted over to Kate. His shoulders rose and fell slowly.

  “What happened here?” Ethan asked.

  “As if you don’t know,” the voice said.

  Ethan shook his head. “I’m not sure who you think we are but we’re from Simon’s town. We came to see Jet.”

  “Jet’s gone. We don’t have anything here,” the voice said gesturing toward the horizon with the barrel of the gun.

  “We just need a place to stay,” Ethan said.

  The person on the other side of the window chuckled. There was a long pause as if they were talking to someone else inside the house.

  “Well, it’s not going to be here. You need to be on your way.”

  “Okay, sorry we troubled you,” Ethan said apologetically, as he backed away from the house with his hands raised.

  Ethan was halfway down the stairs when the window closed with a heavy thud. His shoulders relaxed as did Will’s.

  “Guess there’s no vacancy here,” Ethan said running his fingers through his hair.

  “What do we do now?” Kate said looking around the town. “Are all of the houses taken?”

  “Well, we know the office is available,” Ethan said with a quick shrug. “Or, what I mean is, with a little work it could be available.”

  Kate shook her head. She looked over her shoulder at the clouds that were almost directly overhead. It wouldn’t be long before the rain started to fall.

  “Well?” Bonnie called from behind Kate. The woman pushed her glasses high on the bridge of her nose.

  “We’ll have to find something else,” Kate said, and groans and moans erupted from the group. Kate couldn’t stop her eyes from rolling.

  Down the road to Kate’s right was the countryside that was likely scattered with Unholy. People that had once lived in Jet’s town, ready to turn every single one of them if given a chance. To her left, they could go back into the town and find something that was available. If there was anything available.

  Before Kate was forced to decide, the front door of the house opened. A bearded man wearing a baseball cap stepped out onto the porch holding a gun in both hands. The wind blew his just shorter than shoulder length hair slightly in front of his face.

  “You said you’re from Simon’s town?” the man asked.

  Ethan turned and faced the man. He stared at him for a moment before responding.

  “We are,” Ethan said.

  “What are you all doing here?” the man asked, taking another step closer.

  Kate swallowed and stepped up next to Ethan. “There’s been an accident. We’re all that’s left.”

  “Sabotage?” the man asked glancing toward the fence that was lying on the ground nearby.

  Kate shook her head. “In a way. But not the same. There was a massive fire.”

  “I’ve seen you before,” the bearded man said jerking his chin toward Ethan, his eyes moved down to his arm. Then his eyes shifted over to Kate. “I’m Lincoln.”

  He walked down the stairs and stretched out his hand. Lincoln cocked his head to the side.

  “Ah, yes, I remember when… the day Rosalie was killed,” Lincoln said.


  “We had nothing to do with that,” Ethan responded quickly holding up his palm.

  Lincoln narrowed his eyes and smirked. “Didn’t say you did.”

  There was a long hesitation while Lincoln looked Ethan up and down.

  “Things are different since the last time you were here,” Lincoln said turning toward Kate. “My friends inside were worried you were the ones that did this to our fence.”

  Kate shook her head. “How long ago did this happen?”

  “Not long after you folks left. Everything kind of went to hell once that idiot took over.” Lincoln jerked his chin down the road toward the office. Kate knew without asking that he was referring to Jet. “No idea why Simon sent him. Stupid fuck. What happened around your parts? Where’s Simon?”

  “Dead,” Kate said, wincing slightly as the sour words left her lips. “I was… am in charge.”

  There was a slight wrinkle at the corner of Lincoln’s eye. He almost seemed amused, but Kate wasn’t sure if it was because Simon was dead or because Kate was in charge.

  “Then someone went rogue and set the town on fire. Like I said, we’re all that’s left. We just need a place to stay for the night,” Kate said just as a raindrop fell, hitting her on the top of the head.

  Lincoln looked up and down the road before turning back to Kate. “It ain’t going to be in this house. Don’t take this the wrong way but while you all look like good folk, I just can’t trust any of you after what we’ve been through.”

  Kate nodded and opened her mouth, but Lincoln started talking.

  “See, someone from outside our town came and did this to our town. Just because I’ve seen you before, doesn’t mean I can take the risk.” Lincoln said pushing his shoulders back.

  “I… we understand,” Kate said.

  “Might there be another house we could stay in?” Will asked. “We won’t get in your way. You won’t even know we’re here.”

  Lincoln eyed Will for a moment. “Kind of too close for comfort and all that, you know?”

  “Right,” Kate said forcing a tight-lipped smile. “Sorry, we bothered you.”

  Lincoln bobbed his head as he held Kate’s gaze. “Good luck out there.”

  “Thanks,” she said, watching Lincoln as he took several steps back toward the house.

  Kate’s stomach twisted as she turned to look at Ethan. She had no idea what to do, or say, and she was sure Ethan didn’t know either. Her body jerked when the door closed.

  Her group instantly started their frantic, panicked mumbles before Kate could even address them. Someone had whispered that they were all going to die if they left. A chill ran up and down Kate’s spine because she couldn’t tell them that they were wrong.

  Kate’s fingers shook as she brought them up to her lips. She turned toward the group even though she didn’t know what she was going to say.

  A raindrop landed on her cheek just as the door squeaked open again. Kate turned and saw Lincoln standing there with his arms crossed.

  He let out a heavy sigh that dropped his shoulders down. “Wait.”

  3

  Lincoln’s head dropped down as he walked up to the group. He shook it side to side before looking up at all of them.

  “Don’t fucking make me regret this,” he said in a rough voice as he pointed down the road. “Take one of the houses at the end of the block. Closer to what had once been downtown.”

  Sighs and sounds of relief softly filled the air behind Kate. A few of them mumbled their thanks, and Lincoln bowed his head to them.

  He grabbed Kate by the arm and yanked her closer. Every muscle in Ethan’s body tensed.

  “If you or your people cause any kind of disturbance, I’ll be forced to defend what’s ours.” Lincoln stared into her eyes. “Is that understood?”

  “Of course,” Kate said attempting to free her arm. Lincoln tightened his hold for a moment as he peered into her eyes. It was like he was looking for something. Kate blinked several times trying to break his gaze. He looked so deeply it felt as though he was digging around inside her brain.

  The moment had been so intense, Kate knew she’d never forget the pattern of his light-brown iris. Will and Ethan both clenched their fists, and Lincoln smirked at them as he let go of Kate’s arm.

  Lincoln pointed down the road. “How about that one? The red brick one? It was clear last time I checked but be on your guard. You can never be sure.”

  “Thanks again,” Kate said letting out a small cough to clear her throat.

  Lincoln was already halfway up the stairs. “One night. That’s it.”

  The tension between them snapped apart when he closed the door. Kate shuddered when she heard the lock flip into place.

  “Let’s go,” she said far too softly. No one had heard her.

  “Let’s move,” Ethan said waving his hand toward the building.

  Everyone walked down the road moving quickly as the rain picked up. Kate and Ethan walked side by side up the stairs to the front door of the red brick building. It was smaller than the one at the edge of town, but their options were limited. They’d make it work.

  Kate looked over her shoulder to check the distance between her and the group. Will was just a step or two behind, but the others were further back.

  She lightly bumped her elbow into Ethan as he stepped up to the door. Kate let out a breath as she grabbed his hand.

  “What are you doing?” Ethan said.

  “What if it’s a trap?” Kate said punctuating her sentence with a short breath.

  Ethan shook his head. “What kind of trap?”

  “A house full of The Unholy,” Kate said swallowing hard.

  Ethan looked over his shoulder and then back at Kate. He lifted her hand off of his.

  “We don’t have a lot of choices,” Ethan said as the rain came down harder.

  He turned the knob and pushed open the door slowly. Kate pulled out her gun as she nodded at the blade still in Will’s hand.

  “Be ready,” she whispered, and Will nodded.

  Kate held her breath as she followed Ethan inside the what appeared to be an empty house. There was no furniture, nothing hanging on the wall, and as they made their way through the house, they saw that every room had been cleared out.

  “Maybe it was used for storage,” Kate said thinking back to some of the buildings at Simon’s camp. There had been boxes of unmarked goods inside which Kate had assumed were supplies or food.

  “Maybe,” Ethan said stepping up to the door and waving everyone inside. “The important thing is that there aren’t an Unholy in here.”

  The others walked in through the door shaking off the droplets of water and shivering. Each one of them wore the same wide-eyed expression as they looked around the empty room.

  “Is this safe?” Bonnie asked. Beads of water had accumulated on her glasses.

  “Safer than out there,” Ethan said flashing her a smile.

  “What are we supposed to do?” she asked as she pulled the fabric of her damp shirt away from her skin. “Everyone is hungry.”

  Kate blinked several times. “We’re all hungry. Find somewhere to sit or lay down. Rest up. There will be more walking tomorrow.”

  “Where are we going? What are we going to do?” Bonnie asked keeping her voice down, but failing to mask the panic she was feeling. “I have arthritis, and my joints are already swelling up thanks to the weather. We can’t walk forever.”

  Kate exhaled slowly and placed her hand lightly on Bonnie’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I really have no idea. It’s not like I have any better idea than anyone else here.”

  “Then why are you in charge?” Bonnie said looking down her nose at Kate as she threw her hands into the air.

  Kate could feel the heat building inside of her. If she didn’t keep it under control, it was going to boil over, and Bonnie was the nearest target.

  “I never wanted to be. You’re more than welcome to take over, Bonnie,” Kate said trying not to sneer at t
he older woman.

  “Since you are, you better figure this out, and fast,” Bonnie said scrunching up her nose. “Before we all meet our maker.”

  Kate pressed her lips together holding in all of the things she wanted to say to the woman. Ethan must have felt the heat radiating out of Kate because he took her hand and squeezed it.

  “We’ll figure something out,” Ethan said. “For now, we have shelter, so we might as well utilize it.”

  “Guess you’re right,” Bonnie said as she looked Ethan up and down as if she were seeing him for the first time. She didn’t seem impressed as her eyebrow raised and it looked as though she was trying to swallow lemon juice. Bonnie huffed at them before she turned and walked away.

  “And for God sakes, clean your glasses!” Kate said before leaving the room.

  Kate walked into the room that had once been the kitchen. The dust-covered counters hadn’t been torn out, and neither had the sink, but the oven was gone as was the refrigerator. She leaned forward and looked out of the window even though the view was only of the house next door.

  Kate lowered her head and closed her eyes. The urge she had to run out the back door was so strong she wasn’t sure if she could ignore it.

  Her neck twisted to the side and she stared at the back door. The only thing that stood between her and leaving was about ten steps. And Ethan.

  Kate faced the door as if she were facing a vicious opponent. She stared for a long moment before she took a step closer. Searing blood surged through her veins.

  And then as if her feet had a mind of their own, they moved her forward another step. Then another.

  Her hands were squeezed so tightly together, her fingers started to feel numb. Kate’s heart pounded against her chest and then almost seemed to stop when she took another step.

  “Kate?” Will said.

  She turned, her eyes practically bulging out of their sockets as she looked into his questioning eyes. Kate dropped the backpack, and her shaking fingers moved up to her temple as she swallowed hard.

  “Are you okay?” Will asked taking a step toward her. “You look pale. Maybe you should sit down.”