To Hell and Back Read Free

to the side he didn’t take his gaze from her window.
    She jumped when the buzzing behind her started up once more and turned toward the high dresser opposite the bed. A cell phone. Logan’s phone. She glanced at the clock on the table beside an overstuffed green-and-black-plaid chair. The hands pointed to 8:30 and the unease in her gut tripled. She stared at the clock for several long moments. Logan should definitely have been back by now.
    His phone continued to vibrate. She crossed the room and slowly reached for it, cheeks flush with heat, stomach tied in knots. But just as she picked it up, the cell phone went quiet.
    For a second her heart pounded so fast and hard that she had to catch her breath. She tiptoed back to the window, but when she carefully looked outside, the stranger was gone. A red balloon floated up in the air until it caught on the branches of an oak tree. She stared at it for several seconds, Logan’s cell phone in her hand. When the balloon suddenly snapped free, she took a step back and exhaled.
    What was wrong with her?
    Kira ran a shaky hand through her newly dyed hair and sprang into action. Something was up. Logan should have been back by now. She forced her hands to stop trembling as she reached for her jacket. After sliding into it, she tossed her toiletry bag into the large one she and Logan shared, and slung it over her shoulder. With one last look around she moved toward the door. She’d find Logan, and as much as she wanted to explore Waterford and all of its Halloween goodness, maybe he was right. Maybe they should leave right away.
    Her hand reached for the doorknob, and just as she was about to turn it, Logan’s cell phone rang out shrilly. The sound grated on her already frayed nerves.
    “Dammit.” But maybe it was Logan?
    With one hand on the doorknob and the other retrieving his cell from her pocket, she paused and took a second to look at the screen on his phone. “P” was all it said. It wasn’t Logan, but who was it?
    Head bowed, she yanked open the door and froze.
    Heavy, military-style filled her vision. Mud had dried along their edges, and she noticed bits of dried debris on the faded beige carpet. They weren’t Logan’s boots.
    She swallowed and her gaze rose slowly, past long, muscular legs, a broad chest, and wide shoulders, until she rested her eyes on a man she’d never met before. She gulped back a pang of fear and froze.
    He was a dangerous, lethal sort. She could tell. It was in his ice-blue eyes, aristocratic chin, and nose. His full mouth was pursed as if he was annoyed, and his brows were furrowed. His hair was thick and black, shot through with bits of silver. He pushed a long piece away from his face impatiently, his expression darkening even more, and Kira hoped he didn’t know how scared she was.
    He was the man in black from the square. He was twice her size and there was no way Kira could get around him.
    “Who are you?” he said harshly, his cell phone in hand while Logan’s still rang in hers. He hit a button and the sound stopped, leaving them with nothing but a dangerous silence between them.
    Kira’s gut roiled but she refused to look away. Logan had taught her a few things and she knew she couldn’t show weakness. Even though she wanted to slam the door shut and hide, she squared her shoulders and looked him in the eye.
    “Who the hell are you?” she answered instead, hoping the tremor that laced her words wasn’t too evident.
    He studied her for a few moments, his steely eyes never wavering. He nodded to the cell in her hand. “That’s not yours.”
    She shrugged. “No, it’s not.”
    He leaned his shoulder against the door frame and Kira had to move back an inch or so. As well as being dangerous, this stranger was an arrogant son of a bitch. “Where is he?” Brow arched, he waited for her answer, but she wasn’t fooled. He was neither relaxed nor friendly.
    Alarm rifled through her, but before she could react, the man pushed