Night World, No. 2: Dark Angel; The Chosen; Soulmate by Smith L. J

Author:Smith, L. J. [Smith, L. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Young Adult, Fantasy, Vampires, Paranormal, Romance
ISBN: 9781442407855
Amazon: B00AZQHZ3Y
Goodreads: 7357309
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Published: 2008-11-18T08:00:00+00:00

Scrrrunch.

Rashel winced as the boat docked. Somebody wasn’t being careful. But they’d arrived, and it could only be an island. They’d been heading east for over two hours.

Daphne lifted her head weakly. “I don’t care if they eat us the minute we get off, as long as I get to feel solid ground again.”

“This practically is solid ground,” Rashel whispered. “It’s been dead calm the whole way.”

“Tell that to my stomach.” Daphne moaned, and Rashel poked her. Someone was coming down the stairs.

It was Lily. Ivan waited above with the taser. They herded the girls off the boat and up onto a little dock.

Rashel did her vacant-eyed staring around again, blessing the moonlight that allowed her to see.

It wasn’t much of a dock. One wharf with a gas pump and a shack. There were three other powerboats in slips.

And that was all. Rashel couldn’t see any sign of life. The boats rode like ghost ships on the water. There was silence except for the slap of the waves.

Private island, Rashel thought.

Something about the place made the hair on the back of her neck rise.

With Lily in front and Ivan in back, the group was herded to a hiking trail that wound up a cliff.

It’s just an island, Rashel told herself. You should be dancing with joy. This is the enclave you wanted to get to. There’s nothing… uncanny… about this place.

And then, as they reached the top of the cliff, she saw the rocks. Big rocks. Monoliths that reminded her eerily of Stonehenge. It looked as if a giant had scattered them around.

And there were houses built among them, perched on the lonely cliff, looking down on the vast dark sea. They all seemed deserted, and somehow they reminded Rashel of gargoyles, hunched and waiting.

Lily was headed for the very last house on the sandy unpaved road.

It was one of those huge “summer cottages” that was really a mansion. A massive white frame house, two and a half stories high, with elaborate ornamentation.

Shock coursed through Rashel.

A frame house. Wood.

This place wasn’t built by vampires.

The lamia built out of brick or fieldstone, not out of the wood that was lethal to them. They must have bought this island from humans.

Rashel was tingling from head to toe. This is definitely not a normal enclave. Where are all the people? Where’s the town? What are we doing here?

“Move, move.” Lily marched them around the back of the house and inside. And at last, Rashel heard the sounds of other life. Voices from somewhere inside the house.

But she didn’t get to see who the voices belonged to. Lily was taking them into a big old-fashioned kitchen, past a pantry with empty shelves.

At the end of the pantry was a heavy wooden door, and on a stool by the door was a boy about Rashel’s age. He had bushy brown hair and was wearing cowboy boots. He was reading a comic book.

“Hey, Rudi,” Lily said crisply. “How’re our guests?”

“Quiet as little lambs.” Rudi’s voice was laconic, but he stood up respectfully as Lily went by.

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