Beyond the Darkness Read Free Page B

screaming in fear. Her body shuddered at those images.
    The images went dark, and she saw him as he might appear in a dream, hazy and in a void. “Petra?”
    She could hardly breathe. “Our connection goes both ways. I can reach you, too.”
    He didn’t look particularly thrilled by that. “I heard you . . . felt you calling me.”
    “I need to see you. Not in a ‘need to see you’ way. I mean . . . I’m in trouble.”
    “What’s going on? I haven’t gotten any visions.”
    “I don’t mean to sound all conspiracyish, but I have to tell you in person. And as soon as possible.”
    “Petra, unless this is life and death, now is not a good time.”
    She gripped the bottom of her steering wheel, quelling her irritation and the hurt that he would put her off. Was he with someone? Was she not important to him after all? “It’s life and death. I wouldn’t bother you otherwise.” Okay, that had come out just a tiny bit snippy.
    “All right. I’ll meet you in an hour.”
    She gave him a location near the warehouse Pope had put in her mind. “See you soon.”
    She pulled out, feeling the loss of the connection tingle through her. Take a deep breath. It was only Cheveyo. No big deal. She called the number Pope had given her. “We’re on, in an hour.”
    She went into the Center and spent twenty minutes hunting for makeup deals on eBay. Sometimes she could find brand-name product for a great price. Only Cheveyo could distract her from the joy of bargain hunting. She put in two bids and logged out of her account. A few minutes later she walked out to the parking lot.
    As she reached for her door handle, a man standing by his car two spaces away caught her eye. She’d seen him earlier that day in downtown Annapolis. A normal person might think it was a coincidence and nothing more, given that he was nice looking, dressed in business attire. But after everything she’d been through, she’d developed a healthy respect for her sixth sense, and it was telling her something wasn’t right. Their gazes met, and she held his for a moment, letting him know that if he had any devious thoughts, she was onto him.
    He gave her a nod before getting into his car. She dropped into her seat and locked the doors, but waited until he backed out of his spot and left the lot.
    Paranoid? Maybe, but deservedly so. She took the rear entrance out of the lot.
    She pulled into the gas station and waited in her car for Cheveyo. She had a full five minutes before he was due. “Breathe.” Her nerves felt like an army of ants marching inside her stomach. “Look, there’s no point in getting excited or anything,” she said aloud. “He only came because you fudged the truth. So seeing him means . . . nothing.”
    Still, she couldn’t help but braid her hair, loosen it, and braid it again. The silky strands sliding around her fingers were comforting, even more so than cracking her knuckles had been. And she didn’t have to see people grimace or hear lectures about developing arthritis later in life.
    She glanced in the mirror, using her nail to scrape away a slight overlap in her lipstick. The only reason she’d taken the time to pretty up was because she wanted him to see what he was missing. Not that she went anywhere, even to the store, without going through her routine.
    “So there, buddy. Too late now. I’ve got a date with a nice, normal guy tonight, to go along with my nice, normal life, which I love. Besides, who needs a guy that turns into a cat? Probably get cat hairs all over the furniture—”
    A shadow fell across her lap and she jumped. Cheveyo leaned sideways in front of her windshield, his hand braced on the hood. Her heart jumped, too, because that’s what looking into his eyes did to her. How had she missed hearing him ride up?
    She pushed the door open and got out, cringing at the breathless quality of her voice when she said “Hi.” Not helping at all were the high heels she was wobbling on.
    Really not