Night's Captive Read Free Page B

she could do. She could make a run for the Dumpster, but he would just melt it even if she did. He was going to kill her.
    The sorcerer stepped closer. The man’s sinister smile made her skin feel like worms were wiggling all over it.
    Power seemed to coil from the man as he smiled, his teeth glinting in the dim light.
    She prepared herself to run even though she knew it was hopeless.
    The sorcerer raised his hands.
    Loni screamed.
    Something metal glinted as it flashed through the air. The sorcerer shouted and a dagger protruded from his shoulder, just above his heart. The sorcerer stumbled back, grabbed the hilt of the dagger and he wrenched it out.
    And then a dark-haired man tackled the sorcerer. Loni stared in horror and fascination as the sorcerer twisted out from under the man, got to his feet and backed away, gathering himself to counterattack.
    Blood poured down the sorcerer’s arm and it hung almost uselessly. But with his good hand he flung a fireball at the man.
    As he dodged the fireball, the man shouted a curse that reverberated through Loni. The sorcerer gave an eerie cry that carried through the night and caused hair to rise on the back of her neck. The sorcerer raised his good hand ready to throw another fireball.
    The man took a step back and raised both of his own hands. Flames rose up from his palms.
    For a long moment, Loni stared at them, unable to believe what she was seeing. Then she realized that she needed to get out of there. Had to get out.
    She bolted from the scene, wishing she was wearing jeans and athletic shoes instead of a skirt and ballet flats. Adrenaline pumped through her veins and she could hear blood rushing in her ears as she ran through the darkness, toward the end of the alleyway. The metallic taste of fear was in her mouth and her lungs started to burn, as if she had run for miles.
    “Wait!”
    She heard a male shout behind her and fear made her run all the faster. Her shoe hit the edge of a pothole she hadn’t seen in the dark. She tripped and barely kept herself from falling to the asphalt.
    “Damn it.” The deep voice was closer now, a voice she didn’t recognize. “Dawson took off so you’re safe now.”
    Something—someone—grabbed her arm, jerking her around and to an abrupt stop, causing her to stumble again. Strong arms caught her, keeping her from dropping to the ground.
    She regained her balance, her hands on his chest. His muscles were rock hard beneath her palms as she pushed away from her attacker.
    “No,” she shouted as she backed up and swung her purse at his head. “Get away from me!”
    He ducked then jerked her close to him and grasped her by her shoulders.
    “I just saved your life,” he said in a powerful voice as she kicked him in the shin. Her foot connected with his boot and she winced in pain. Ballet flats were not meant for kicking.
    The fact that he hadn’t tried to kill her—yet—caused her to stop thrashing in his arms.
    She looked at the man for the first time and her breath caught in her throat as she stared at him.
    The man was large, intimidating looking, but his hair fell over his brown eyes in almost boyish disarray. He had a decisive presence with power radiating off him in waves. But it was his brown eyes, the contours of his face, the firmness of his mouth that had her mind whirling.
    He looked exactly like the man on the cover of Dark Enforcers, the book she had just read. He could be Alec Page’s double.
    “Who are you?” she asked, her voice hoarse from screaming earlier.
    “I’m the man who just saved your life,” he said. “My name is Alec Page.”
    Her mind spun. “Alec Page?” she repeated even though she knew it was crazy to even think that he could have the same name as the character in the book.
    “Did Dawson get to you?” He frowned. “Or was that all for my benefit?”
    Dawson. Alec. Names from a book.
    She shook her head. “This isn’t real. It can’t be real.”
    Alec looked her over as if to make