Every Other Day by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Author:Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781606842676
Publisher: EgmontUSA
Published: 2011-12-27T23:00:00+00:00

18

Closer. Closer. You’re getting closer. This way, Kali. This way.

If the hunt-lust had been a hum under my skin before, it was a full-blown song now: sweet, melodic, unearthly.

I wanted to hunt. The thing inside me wanted to feed. No room in my mind for anything else, I wove in and out of the shadows, my inner compass set toward something that reeked of sulfur—something sleek and quiet, something wrong.

Normally, I scanned the papers for reports on preternatural activity. I liked going in knowing what brand of beastie I’d be fighting, but at the moment, I didn’t care what the instinct was driving me toward.

All I cared about was making it dead.

The trail ended a mile, maybe two, away from Bethany’s house, at a water park that was closed and abandoned for the winter. Getting in was easy enough, and soon, I was prowling the length of the park, surrounded by bright colors, mammoth slides, and empty, waterless pools.

On the horizon, across a sprawling parking lot, I could see the outline of a Ferris wheel—the fair coming to call and pick up the seasonal slack, while Water World stood empty, save for the shadows, the slides, and me.

I paused, tilting my head to the side, letting the sights and sounds, the smells wash over my senses, each one heightened almost to the point of pain.

Peeling paint.

Wet concrete.

A nearly inaudible hiss.

I whirled around, but saw nothing except the barest hint of shadow. I smelled something cold and wet and rotting.

I bent down to unsheathe my knife. I was close now, very close. The question was—close to what?

Beads of sweat rose on my skin, not because I was nervous—I wasn’t—and not because I was hot. It was adrenaline, plain and simple, and when I caught a glimpse of myself in a fun house–style mirror—installed, no doubt, to entertain the masses while they waited in hot summer lines—my brown eyes were glowing with an unholy sheen.

You’re close now. So very close.

I could almost picture myself here on a human day, standing in line for the Silver Bullet and stealing peeks at myself in the long line of mirrors, each a distortion, none an exact reflection of this body.

None of them the real me.

Somewhere, overhead, there was a creak—rusted metal, giving under the weight of something … something….

I looked up.

For a split second, there was nothing but the metal staircase, winding its way up to the top of the Silver Bullet, but then I heard the telltale sound of scales scraping against metal—a light swoosh, a tongue flickering out to taste the stale and humid air.

Whatever it was, my prey was tasting for me.

I averted my eyes a second before the creature came into view. It swung down from the rafters, its tail—the width of an oak tree, the length of my legs—wrapping around the creaking, rusted stairs.

Basilisk, I realized, a second too late. Its snakelike body gave way to a triangular head with slit nostrils, a nearly human mouth, and eyes the exact color and cut of a ruby.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.