Beyond the Darkness Read Free

we’ll meet,” he said. “Speak not of it to Cheveyo. Just bring him to the location.”
    She nodded, knowing where it was. “This is starting to sound scary again.” Scary, but her heart was thrumming with adrenaline. Good God, she couldn’t actually miss the danger, could she? That would be sick . And not sick in the good way, either.
    Y urek watched a tall woman exit the restaurant where he’d tracked Pope. She headed to the right, unraveling her straight hair from its braid and shaking it out. The blond strands shimmered in the sunlight, falling to the middle of her back. Pope emerged a few seconds later, watching the woman for a moment. She looked back, and in that glance he saw a connection between them. He was close enough to pick up on the woman’s emotions: an odd mix of excitement and trepidation. But he also picked up something from Pope. Was it concern that came from him? Yes, he cared about the girl. Interesting. They weren’t supposed to have those feelings.
    He picked up something even more interesting: the Geo Wave, an almost electric sense their kind got from each other. It shouldn’t be coming from the human girl.
    Intrigued, he followed her, making sure he wasn’t picking up Pope’s Wave. She looked as though she’d stepped out of one of the many advertisements that bombarded society here: tall, but not emaciated as many of the female models. Her body filled in her black pants and pink, knit tank top with luscious curves. Even though he saw humans as the lesser species, he found some of them attractive in their own way. Like this girl.
    People streamed past them, many paying more attention to what was in the shop windows than where they were going. Some looked at him, at the handsome visage he had chosen for his visit here. Callorians, his species, took on a human guise when they visited this dimension. He could take that ability one step further.
    The woman stopped at an intersecting road, and he bumped into her. She turned and looked at him without malice, and he apologized. She gave him a forgiving smile and turned forward again.
    Yes, a beautiful woman . . . who was part Callorian. Then the pieces clicked together. Pope had been coming here for many years on various assignments. He had been an Elgin, a highly placed Shine, before he went Scarlett. He obviously broke the rules and had an assignation with a human. This lovely creature was the result. It explained why Pope cared about her.
    The crowd surged forward again. Now that he worked for the Collaborate—the C, as it was referred to from within—his duties included eradicating anything troublesome in this dimension. This woman was troublesome, just by her very existence. It would disturb Pope if his daughter was killed, and that would distract him and further weaken his Essence. Yurek’s smile wasn’t all for show. The idea of bringing down the last vestiges of the once-powerful Pope was as luscious as the woman only inches in front of him.

Chapter 2
     
    P etra walked down the sidewalk, her stomach churning with both excitement and annoyance. A sea breeze washed down Annapolis’s main street, sending strands of her hair to tickle her face. The boutiques, restaurants, and novelty stores catered to tourists. She paused in front of a window full of baby items. With a sigh, she stepped inside, breathing in sweet smells, taking in all the soft squishy and squeaky things that would make a baby giggle. Not that she wanted a baby just yet.
    She gasped at the sight of a Wizard of Oz crib set. The bumper depicted Dorothy and gang along the yellow brick road. She plucked out her iPhone and punched a speed dial number.
    Amy answered. “Hey, Petra. What’s up?”
    “How about a Wizard of Oz crib set? It would work for a boy or girl, and it’s soooo adorable!” They were waiting until birth before finding out the gender, which was so not fair for the rest of them. “No witch or scary monkeys in sight.”
    There was a—dare she think