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out of his skin when another rhythmic knock sounded, and a harsh
laugh echoed inside his head.
 Oh, shit. Scrambling out of his chair, he began backing out of
the room and toward the kitchen. He didn t know where he would go,
but he wasn t going to be one of those lame damsels in distress who
got himself stuck upstairs with no way of escape.
 It s rude to keep someone waiting, Mr. Barrows.
He d really hoped to never hear that voice inside his head again,
but apparently he d wished upon the wrong star. No sense in
antagonizing the psycho, however, so he kept his mouth shut and
continued making his way to the kitchen.
Cash was on his way, and he was coming with backup. All Cedric
had to do was be patient and keep his wits about him. Graham Russo
was a vampire kind of and that meant Cedric was safe as long as
he stayed inside the house.
He d no more had the thought when the window beside the door
shattered inward, and three smoking canisters rolled into the living
room. Seriously? Where the hell did the guy get tear gas? Or maybe it
was something worse. Graham was working with Mr. X, and that guy
had proven himself to be quite the resourceful villain.
The roar the engine reached his ears before he heard the crunch of
speeding tires over the gravel. Next was the sound of pounding
Eight Second Fall 145
footsteps against the wood planks of the porch. Was Graham running
away? That seemed far too easy.
Then the growling started, followed by several loud, vicious barks
that had to have come from Cayson. The cacophony of noise
sounding from the front lawn was terrifying, but Cedric had a much
bigger problem on his hands. The smoke in the room was growing
thicker, slowing curling its way to him, and he had to get out.
He wasn t stupid enough to believe that he stood any chance
against someone as massive as Graham, but he had other weapons in
his arsenal. Stripping out of his clothes as he went, he sprinted for the
back of the house, through the kitchen door, and right out onto the
back deck.
Completely naked, he leapt down the stairs and crouched in the
grass, breathing heavily as he waited for the shift to complete. It felt
odd to be back inside the body of his ocelot, and part him kind of
missed the Shadow Cat. It would be much easier to sneak up on his
adversary if no one could see him coming.
Still, his ghost cat might be excellent at running away, but he
wouldn t have been much help in an actual fight. Running full-out, he
rounded the corner of the house just in time to see Graham deliver a
powerful kick to the center of Cash s chest that sent him flying
through the air to land on his back in the gravel.
 Wound him! Edan yelled, dancing around his brother and trying
to get closer.  I need his blood.
Cayson was in his Doberman form, growling and snapping at
Graham, but he couldn t get close enough, either. Cash was back on
his feet, circling the vampire, but Graham was fast, giving him little
opportunity to strike.
Crouching low to the ground, Cedric slunk forward as quietly as
possible, taking in the scene and looking for his opening. One scratch.
That was all Edan needed was one scratch that would draw blood.
 You don t have to do this, Edan pleaded.  This isn t you.
146 Gabrielle Evans
Graham laughed harshly as he kicked out with his left foot,
connecting solidly with Cayson s ribcage and sending him tumbling
across the ground.  I don t take orders from you anymore. We do
things my way now.
He turned to sneer at Edan, leaving his back vulnerable as he did
so. It wasn t great, but it was the best chance Cedric was going to get.
Squeezing himself even closer to the ground, he let the power coil
through him like a spring, swished his tail once, and pushed off hard
with his back legs.
Cedric was fast, but Graham was faster. Spinning with a grace that
belied his large frame, he swung out his right arm, backhanding
Cedric across his temple and sending him careening toward the porch.
It hurt like hell, but Cedric gained a small measure of satisfaction
when he heard Graham hiss in pain and saw him curl his hand toward
his chest.
It wasn t a large cut, really more of a knick, but Cedric s sharp
claws had done the trick to draw blood from Graham s palm. Cash,
however, didn t appear to be impressed. A loud, terrifying roar ripped
through the night seconds before Cash dove forward, driving his fist
into Graham s nose and plowing over him to get to Cedric.
 Are you okay? Talk to me, baby.
If Cedric could, he would have rolled his eyes. It was sweet that
his mate was so worried about him, but it wasn t like his ocelot had
the ability of speech. Still, he could offer comfort and reassurance in
his own way. Crawling up in Cash s lap, he curled close to him and
rubbed his face over his lover s neck and face, purring softly to let
Cash know that he wasn t seriously injured.
Movement beyond the porch caught his attention, and he whipped
his head around, preparing for whatever danger was coming.
Fortunately, he wasn t going to have to fight again. Edan grabbed a
sharp rock from the ground, slashed it across his own palm, and
tackled his brother so that he sat atop him.
Eight Second Fall 147
Then he clasped his bleeding hand to Graham s, grunting when
the man tried to throw him off but otherwise holding his own.  Teneri
sanguis amorque somnum sempiternum erit dicendum.
There were no bright lights, cries of pain, or any other kind of
dramatic scene. Once Edan finished speaking, there was a split-
second pause where time seemed to stand still, and then both he and
his brother simply closed their eyes and slumped together. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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