the end of Everything (New Adult Erotic Romance) Read Free Page B

he looked
like hell warmed over. If he reached me, he’d kill me. I wheeled
around, wrenched open the car door and dove inside but when I tried
to start the engine, the ignition wouldn’t turn. Oh, God. No! No! I
wiggled the key again and again. Nothing. He was close, so close. I
tried to roll up the window but I was too late. Mr. Grayson thrust
his arm through the window and the stench of rotting flesh almost
made me throw up.
    “No,” I screamed, throwing myself backwards
across the passenger seat and twisting around to kick him. My foot
connected with his face and I heard an awful squelching sound. He
staggered back but nothing registered on his grey face, no
expression, nothing. Oh, my God! This was Mr. Grayson. Mr. Grayson.
I hadn’t known him all that long but how had he come to this? And
there I’d gone thinking he’d been Raptured.
    He swayed for a moment then lunged mindlessly
at me again, launching his body almost halfway into the car. I
scrabbled backwards but I wasn’t quick enough. A swollen grey hand
grabbed my knee.
    “No,” I shrieked. “Get away!” I kicked his
head with my free foot and then screamed even louder as I sloughed
off some of his scalp. He stank and he was falling apart but he
never relinquished his grip on my leg. I tried to tear myself away
but his strength was unbelievable. He grabbed my ankle with his
other hand and raised my foot to his mouth. I screamed again,
certain he was about to bite it off.
    Next thing I knew I heard a whooshing sound
and then a dull thud. I had no idea what had just happened but,
whatever it was, made Mr. Grayson release my foot and lurch around.
I immediately scrabbled for the door handle and hurtled out on the
other side of the car. I sprinted to the end of the bridge and
looked back. A dark figure swung something like a baseball bat and
the side of Mr. Grayson’s head caved in. He fell to the ground but
his body kept twitching. The stranger raised his weapon over his
head and brought it down, again and again, on Mr. Grayson’s head.
Finally, the horrible thing that had once been Mr. Grayson stopped
moving.
    Oh, God! It was like I was so scared I
couldn’t think, couldn’t run, couldn’t do anything. Mr. Grayson was
dead. No, he’d been dead and he’d tried to eat me. My thoughts
bounced crazily around in my head. Now he was really dead. Really,
really dead. Oh, God! I felt so weak and trembly it was like my
veins had turned to ice and my legs to rubber.
    “Faith.”
    I froze. Not moving, not breathing.
    “Faith,” the person said again and moved
toward me.
    “Gideon?” I couldn’t believe it.
    “Yes, it’s me. Are you okay?”
    “Oh, my God!” I was utterly incapable of
saying anything else. I flung myself at him, sobbing hysterically
with relief. He threw the bloodied weapon in his hand down and his
strong muscular arms closed around me.
    “Shush,” he murmured, holding me tight as he
gently stroked my hair. “He didn’t bite you, did he? You’re okay,
right?” He ran his hands all over me, checking for injuries.
    “I…I’m fine,” I said, my breath catching in
my throat. “Oh, my God, Gideon!” Okay, I know I’d said that like a
million times already but that was my first encounter with a Risen
Dead and he or it, whatever it was, had nearly killed me. I’d
almost died! Just thinking about it got me hyperventilating. My
chest heaved and my lungs struggled for air.
    “Shush,” Gideon said, holding me close. “It’s
okay, baby. You’re alright.”
    Had he just called me baby? Oh, my God!
Suddenly I remembered Ma and Pa.
    “Gideon.” I started coughing and couldn’t
talk. He rubbed my back soothingly and I closed my eyes and stayed
quiet in the circle of his arms trying to catch my breath. As I
gradually calmed down I realized I could hear each beat of his
heart, smell his own peculiar Gideon scent of green grass and
earth, but now it was overlaid with the masculine scent of his
perspiration.
    “Where are Ma and Pa,