“Rhys?” She glanced at him over her shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Fine,” he replied, his voice rough. “Why do you ask?”
“You’re hurting me.”
“What?” Muttering an oath, he relaxed his hold on her and leaned back, putting some space between them. “Sorry.”
Megan frowned. Why was it that, every now and then, his eyes took on that reddish hue? Was it a trick of the colored lights playing over the park? But what about when they were alone and there were no lights?
“Are you ready to go?”
“Not really,” she said. “Why? Are you?”
He was more than ready to leave. So many people, all sitting close together, so many beating hearts…He had thought if he put some distance between himself and the crowd, it would help, but it hadn’t. And then there was Megan, her body pressed close to his. A constant temptation.
He took a deep, calming breath. “We can stay if you want.” Leaning forward, he brushed a kiss across her cheek. “I just need to stretch my legs. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
Before she could ask any questions, he stood and melted into the shadows. The area away from the concert was dark; there were no paths, lights were few.
He had been kidding himself, he mused, as he put the crowd behind him. There was no way on earth that he and Megan could have a life together. The only reason the relationship between Delacourt and Daisy had lasted was because Daisy had accepted the Dark Gift. Rhys hadn’t known Megan long, but he was pretty sure she would reject the idea of becoming a vampire out of hand.
He was about to return to the concert area when he became aware of two things simultaneously. Megan had followed him, and the hunter was right behind him. Rhys swore softly. If he met his end tonight, it would be his own damn fault. He had been so busy thinking about things that could never be, he had let his guard down.
Fangs bared, he whirled around and came face-to-face with a big bear of a man who brandished a nasty-looking pistol in one gloved hand, and a large wooden stake in the other.
Chapter 19
Megan stared, uncomprehending, at the scene before her. She looked at Rhys, but it was a Rhys she had never seen before. His body was taut and even from a distance, she could feel the power rolling off him. When he glanced her way, his eyes blazed red. She closed her eyes a moment and then looked again. His eyes were still red. It was no trick of the light this time.
The man standing across from Rhys was huge. He was dressed in black from his hat to his shoes. Megan took a step forward, her eyes narrowing. Was he holding a gun? And a wooden stake?
The man moved toward Rhys. And Rhys snarled at him, revealing…Megan blinked at him, and blinked again. Fangs?
She was dreaming, she thought, she had to be dreaming.
Without taking his gaze from the other man, Rhys shouted. “Megan, get the hell out of here! Now!”
Before she had time to think or respond, the man in black fired the gun. Rhys doubled over, hissing through clenched teeth as his hands pressed against his stomach.
The man in black lunged forward, the stake raised in his right hand. A low cry rose in his throat as he plunged the stake into Rhys’s back. She watched in horror as Rhys slowly sank to the ground and toppled onto his side, his hands still pressed to his stomach. In the dim light, the blood leaking through his fingers looked black.
What to do, Megan thought frantically. She took a step forward, driven by her need to go to Rhys, to offer aid, comfort, something, but before she could clear her mind, the man turned toward her.
Fear for her own life sent Megan running back toward the concert area. Safety in numbers, she thought frantically, even as she tried to block the horrific scene from her mind. But the carnage played over and over again, each time more chilling than the last.
A police officer stood on the edge of the crowd. Gasping for breath, Megan hurried toward him. Her mother had always told her to look for a cop if she was in trouble. And she was definitely in trouble.
“Officer!”
He looked up as she came running toward him. “Can I help you, miss?”
“Yes! My…my boyfriend and I had a fight, and I don’t have any way to get home and I’m afraid….”
“Is he still here?” the officer asked, glancing behind Megan. “Did he hurt you? Threaten you in any way?”
“No.”
“Where is he?”
“Over there.” She gestured toward the deserted section of the park. “Stay here until I get back.” He pulled a flashlight from his belt and ran back the way Megan had come.
Megan stared after him. Had she done the right thing? What if the man who had killed Rhys killed the police officer, too? It would be her fault. Lordy, what if the killer came after her? She had witnessed his crime.
Grabbing her cell phone from her pocket, she punched in Shirl’s number.
Shirl answered on the second ring.
“Hey, Megan, what’s up?”
“Shirl, I need you to come and pick me up. Hurry, please!”
“What’s wrong?”
“I can’t talk now. I’m at the concert area of the park.”
“I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
The police officer returned moments after Megan ended the call. “There’s no sign of him,” he said. “Do you want to file a report?”
“No, I just want to go home.”
“Is there someone you can call?”
“I did, thank you. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”
“No bother at all,” he said with a smile.
It took twenty minutes for Shirl to get to the park. They were the longest twenty minutes of Megan’s life. Why hadn’t the policeman found anything, she wondered, and then answered her own question. The killer had probably taken Rhys’s body away.
After climbing inside Shirl’s car, Megan locked the passenger door, then huddled against the seat, her arms wrapped around her waist, shivering.
“Girl, what did that man do to you?” Shirl asked. “You’re white as a ghost.”
“You were right,” Megan whispered. “You were right.”
“Yeah? About what?” Shirl asked.
“Rhys. He’s…” She couldn’t say the word out loud. Doing so would make it real, and it couldn’t be real. And yet there was no denying the proof of her own eyes.
“Meggie, you’re scaring me. What did he do to you?”
“Not now. Can’t you drive faster?”