Hunted_Falling Darkness_Book 3 Page 3

  “Yeah, okay,” Kate said taking a step toward Will, ignoring the vibrating weakness that moved upward from her knees to her hips. “A little lightheaded I guess.”

  “Everyone seems on edge,” Will said. “Hungry and tired isn’t a good combination.”

  Will grabbed Kate’s elbow and helped her down to the dusty tiled floor. He looked into her eyes as he pressed two fingertips to her wrist. It took Kate a second to realize he was taking her pulse.

  “Oh, that’s right,” Kate said.

  Will tilted his head slightly. “What’s right?”

  “Forgot you were a male nurse,” Kate said.

  “Shh!” Will said looking over his shoulder. “Ethan will hear you, and I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  Kate smiled. “Maybe I should go ask that guy… Lincoln, if we can have some food and water.”

  Will sat down next to Kate with his knees bent. “Maybe.”

  “Ethan won’t want me to go alone.”

  “Is that why you were going to sneak out?” Will asked, keeping his eyes focused on the empty wall in front of him.

  “I wasn’t sneaking out,” Kate replied quickly.

  Will turned and met her eyes. “That’s what it looked like.”

  “I wasn’t.” Kate held his gaze for several beats before she looked down at the floor. “I thought I heard something at the door.”

  “Right,” Will said twisting his fingers together. “Maybe we should sneak out. I mean, if Ethan is going to stop us from—”

  “Stop you from what?” Ethan said crossing his arms as he leaned against the door frame. Kate and Will looked at one another, and Ethan narrowed his eyes. “What’s going on?”

  Kate stood up and grabbed the counter to steady herself. Her legs were weak, but she tried not to let it show.

  “It’s not what you think,” Kate said.

  “What exactly do I think?” Ethan asked almost chuckling.

  Kate waved him closer. Ethan looked over his shoulder at the others before coming into the kitchen.

  “Everyone is hungry. I’m hungry,” Kate said placing her hand on her sunken in stomach. “If I just go talk to Lincoln, I think I can—”

  “Over my dead body,” Ethan bellowed.

  Kate took a step closer to him. “I’m not going alone. Will’s coming with me.”

  “Like hell he is,” Ethan said barely giving him a glance.

  “If you would just calm down,” Kate said.

  “Calm down? Do you not remember the gun that was pointed at me?” Ethan asked.

  Kate chewed her lip for a second. “They didn’t shoot.”

  “That time they didn’t.” Ethan sighed and took a slow step closer to Kate. He took her hand into his. “It’s just not safe.”

  “We have to eat, Ethan. They probably still have keys to the storage facility.” Kate abruptly stopped talking. It struck her like a bolt of lightning.

  Rosalie had keys to the storage facility and they’d probably been given to Jet when he took over the camp. The keys would be in the office, or somewhere on The Unholy version of Jet. Maybe they didn’t need to trouble Lincoln at all.

  “Okay,” Kate said placing her hands on her hips. “If we can’t ask Lincoln then I have another idea.”

  Ethan and Will exchanged a look. They both appeared to almost be frightened to hear what Kate was about to say.

  “The keys to the storage facility are probably in Jet’s office. Lincoln probably doesn’t have any idea about everything that’s stored down there,” Kate said with an excited brightness in her eyes.

  Ethan laughed and shook his head. “You’re kidding right?”

  “Not even a little,” Kate frowned.

  “Not happening,” Ethan said.

  Will opened his mouth but snapped it shut when Ethan turned to him. He grinned at him, but he wasn’t brave enough to utter whatever it was that crossed his mind.

  “We have two options,” Kate said shifting her weight. “Pick one.”

  Ethan scratched the back of his neck as his eyes shifted up to meet Kate’s. “Neither.”

  “Then I’ll pick,” Kate said, her eyebrows squeezed together tightly forming a hard line that wrinkled her forehead.

  Ethan blinked.

  Kate let out a heavy breath and grabbed Will’s hand. “We’re going to talk to Lincoln.”

  4

  Ethan’s eyes widened. The anger visibly moved up his body, reddening his cheeks.

  “This isn’t up to you,” Kate said, pulling Will back toward the door along with her. “We’ll be fine.”

  “Kate,” Ethan said, the tendons in his neck popped out. “Don’t.”

  “Keep everyone safe.” She took another step toward the door. “We’ll be back soon. You can probably see us out the front window.”

  The muscles in Ethan’s shoulders tightened and brought them closer to his ears. “Let me go with you.”

  Kate shook her head. When she turned the lock on the back door, she half-expected Ethan to charge across the room and physically stop her from leaving the building.

  “Will has my back, don’t you Will?” Kate said without blinking.

  “I do,” Will said.

  “Jesus fucking Christ,” Ethan said slapping his palm to his forehead. “If anything happens to her—”

  “It won’t,” Will said shaking his head.

  Kate opened the door and pulled Will out before Ethan could do or say anything to stop them. She saw worry fill his eyes as she closed the door block her from his view.

  “That was intense,” Will said following Kate around the house. “Maybe I should go back and ask for his knife.”

  Kate shot him a quick look but kept moving. She could already feel Ethan’s eyes peering at her through the window.

  “I think I’m growing on him,” Will said as he stepped up to Kate’s side, working to keep up to her quick pace.

  “Maybe like a plantar wart,” Kate said with a straight face.

  Will chuckled. “Exactly like that. Sticks around no matter how badly you want to get rid of it. I’m almost positive that is exactly how Ethan would describe me.”

  Rain continued to fall down on them as Kate looked between the houses they walked by. Perhaps the weather was keeping The Unholy at bay, or maybe they’d just moved on after they’d turned everyone in the town.

  It hadn’t taken long for Kate’s and Will’s clothing to become soaked. The fabric clung to her making her skin itch, but she ignored it as she marched up the stairs to Lincoln’s house and knocked on the door.

  Kate jerked when the door was yanked open. Lincoln glared at them and groaned.

  “What?” he growled.

  “Sorry to bother you again,” Kate said forcing a smile. “But I was wondering if maybe it would be all right if we could take a small ration of your food and water. My people are very hungry after the long journey.”

  Lincoln held up his palm and Kate snapped her mouth closed. His eyes darted over Kate’s shoulder at Will who was wiping the beaded-up rain off of his forehead.

  “I can’t do that,” Lincoln said, taking a step back to close the door.

  Before she thought about what she was doing, Kate placed her foot in front of the door, stopping it from closing. Lincoln’s eyes widened.

  “I’m sorry, but we don’t need much,” Kate said. She leaned in closer and couldn’t help but notice all the eyes inside of the building looking at her.

  “I have my own people to worry about,” Lincoln muttered, as he glanced over his shoulder and placed his hand on the side of Kate’s arm. His fingers dug into her as he guided her onto the front porch and closed the door behind him. He looked into her eyes and then out at the falling rain. “I wish I could help you.”

  “You can,” Kate said. “But you don’t want to.”

  Lincoln covered his mouth with his hand as he scratched his beard. He shook his head slowly. “Look, I don’t know—”

  “I know. I get it. But,” Kate said lo
wering her voice, “you do know there is more—”

  “Kate,” Will said sharply.

  Kate jerked her head to look in Will’s direction. He stared at her without blinking.

  “We should get back,” Will said holding out his hand. “It’s really coming down.”

  Kate stared into his eyes. She instantly realized that Will didn’t want her telling Lincoln about the storage facility.

  When she turned back to Lincoln his eyes were narrowed. “Know there is more where?”

  “Oh, everywhere,” Kate said swallowing. She offered Lincoln a nonchalant shrug. “Probably hidden in various buildings throughout the town.”

  “We cleared out the buildings weeks ago,” Lincoln said pulling his shoulders back. He took a step closer to Kate, stepping inside her personal space. He lowered his voice. “Did I make a mistake letting you stay here?”

  Kate drew in a long breath and forced herself to smile. “No, of course not. I’m sure you understand what I’m trying to do. If you were in my shoes, you’d do the same thing.”

  Lincoln’s expression loosened. He let out a heavy sigh.

  “I would,” he said. “Which is why you must understand why I have to tell you no. What we have is just too limited. We don’t have months and months of supplies left. I don’t know how Jet was getting everything, but now that he’s one of those things… well, all we have is what’s here.”

  Kate nodded and even though she was tempted to tell Lincoln about the storage facility, she didn’t.

  “I understand,” Kate said stepping off the porch and into the rain. “Really sorry I bothered you.”

  Lincoln nodded and stood there with his hand on the doorknob watching them as they walked away.

  “I should have told him,” Kate said.

  “If you did, you’d risk losing it all,” Will said keeping his eyes forward. “Who says he would have shared any of what’s in your storage facility with us?”

  “There is so much there. Not to mention someone would have to show him where it was,” Kate said.

  Will shook his head. “It was too big of a risk. We don’t know anything about what these people will do to protect what they think is theirs.”

  “Maybe you’re right,” Kate said as she let out a heavy sigh. “Now we have to get that key, and I’m not sure how we can do that when the door to Jet’s office is locked with an unknown amount of Unholy inside.”

  “But since the door is locked, that means there is a good chance the key is still inside,” Will said raising a brow.

  “I don’t know the first thing about picking locks, do you?” Kate asked. “It wasn’t like one of your hobbies was it?”

  Will shook his head. “I was a nurse, remember. My hobby was writing, but something tells me that Ethan can get inside.”

  “What makes you think that?” Kate asked.

  Will shrugged. “He could probably just break it down.”

  “He’s not going to let us even try,” Kate said as they approached the brick building. Ethan was staring out of the window at them.

  “We’ll just have to convince him,” Will said.

  “Have you met Ethan?” Kate asked narrowing an eye at Will.

  Will placed his hand on Kate’s arm and spun her toward him. Kate could feel Ethan’s eyes on them through the glass.

  “How far is the storage facility?” Will asked.

  “Not exactly sure from here,” Kate said. “When we went there from the other town it took several hours six?”

  “So, we get the key, and then when we leave here in the morning, that’s where we go,” Will said.

  Kate looked over Will’s shoulder and saw Ethan’s anxious expression through the window. He jerked his thumb toward the door.

  “Getting the key is still a problem,” Kate said.

  “Maybe we don’t go inside the house and find out. Maybe we go without asking Ethan for his permission,” Will said daring her with his raised eyebrows.

  Kate swallowed so hard it squeezed her throat. She couldn’t believe it, but she was actually considering it.

  “We don’t have a way inside. And who knows what’s waiting in there,” Kate said, placing her finger over her lips. “I’ve been inside though… it is a small space.”

  “Maybe we can get in through a window.” A smile slowly grew on Will’s face. “What’s it going to be? Better decide before the caveman walks out here and drags you inside by your hair.”

  Kate’s eyes met Will’s impossibly blue eyes, and she let out a sharp breath. “Okay.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Let’s go before I change my mind,” Kate said turning so she wouldn’t be tempted to look at Ethan.

  They’d only taken half a step before Ethan was pounding on the window. Each boom shook her stomach, but she didn’t turn back.

  She could hear the door open, but still, she didn’t look.

  “Kate!” Ethan shouted.

  “We’ll be right back,” she shouted, hoping they weren’t being so loud that they’d draw Lincoln’s attention.

  “God dammit, Kate!” Ethan shouted before he slammed the door.

  Kate thought for sure he was going to come up behind them and drag them both back inside. But he didn’t.

  “He knows where we’re going. He won’t leave them unprotected, at least not unless he has to,” Will said, and Kate turned to him sharply.

  “You’ve given this option thought?”

  “Not a lot, just after Lincoln told us no.”

  Kate lowered her gaze for a moment. “He’ll probably never talk to me again.”

  “Ha! He’d do anything for you.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  Will shrugged. “I have eyes. Ethan wears his heart is on his sleeve. At least when it comes to you.”

  “Well, he’ll definitely hate you more,” Kate said with a half-grin.

  “Can he hate me more than he already does?”

  “Definitely. I think he was warming up to you since finding out you weren’t a crazy serial killer.”

  Will chuckled. “Warming up, huh? Yeah, I don’t think so.”

  The smiles on their faces quickly vanished when they stopped in front of Jet’s building. Kate’s heart started to pound.

  Will jerked his head to the side of the building. “Let’s try the windows.”

  They walked around the corner of the building. Kate pulled her knife out of the sheath as her eyes darted around the overgrown yard.

  Will stepped forward and tried the first window at the side of the house. Kate almost felt relieved when it didn’t budge.

  They made their way around the house, Will tried the windows while Kate watched his back. There was only one more window to check, but they weren’t going to need it. The second to last window squeaked slightly as it moved a quarter of an inch upward.

  Will looked over his shoulder and into Kate’s eyes before turning back and slowly sliding the window up as far as it would go. A gust of wind blew the curtains around making them dance like faded, ghostly objects.

  Will stood on his tiptoes. His fingertips white as he pulled himself higher to look into the window.

  Gray arms with spidery black veins stretched out of the window tangling with the curtains. Kate gasped when the hand grabbed onto Will’s shirt.

  5

  Kate stepped forward with her blade in hand, but Will twisted his body and had already broken free. His eyes were wide, but when he looked up at Kate, a smile spread across his face.

  “That was close,” Will said.

  Kate shook her head and apprehensively approached the window. She kept her position far out of reach from anything that might be inside.

  “Did you see how many were in there?” Kate asked, her voice low.

  “No,” Will said between breaths. “At least one.”

  “No kidding,” Kate said bobbing her head to the side to see around the curtain.

  Arms stretched out swiping in her direction but missing her by
several feet. Kate took a step closer.

  “What are you doing?” Will asked.

  Kate ignored him and took another step when The Unholy reached out, she grabbed its underarm and yanked it as hard as she could. The creature moved out of the window far enough that Kate was able to ram the blade into the side of its head.

  She stepped back as The Unholy flopped forward at the waist hanging halfway out of the window. The black gunk oozed out of the wound and dripped down onto the ground.

  “Is that Jet?” Will asked.

  “No,” Kate said with a quick breath.

  “Are there any others in there?”

  Kate stood on her tiptoes trying to look inside even though the curtains worked hard to block her view. “Just him I think. Help me get this thing out of the way.”

  They grabbed the waist of The Unholy’s pants and jerked it out, letting it fall to the ground.

  “Still have your pen?” Kate asked raising a brow.

  Will looked at her and held up the pen. He clicked it and flashed her a half-smirk.

  “Give me a boost,” Kate said placing her hands in the window frame.

  Will grabbed Kate around the waist and pulled her away from the window. He spun her around, their faces inches apart.

  “Are you crazy?” Will asked. “Jet’s still in there, you can’t just put your hands up there!”

  Kate drew in a deep breath as her eyes moved from Will’s intense eyes down to his lips. She swallowed hard and placed her hands on his chest as she pushed herself away.

  “I saw inside. The door was closed.” Kate sucked in a breath, and he loosened his grip. “It’s empty.”

  “Oh,” Will said, looking off to the side. “Guess I panicked.”

  Kate nodded and stepped back up to the window. “Boost.”

  “Yes, Ma’am.” Will grabbed Kate around the waist and helped her into the window.

  Kate looked around what had once been a bedroom. The pictures that hung on the walls were all lopsided, and the black stained blankets mostly pulled off the bed. Everything scattered all over the place.

  There were two bloody handprints on the door. It looked as though someone, probably The Unholy they’d thrown out the window, had tried to escape before it had turned.