Rogue Darkness by Dianne Duvall

“No, thank you. I’m meeting someone.”

“You sure you don’t want to use my jacket as an umbrella? You can return it tomorrow to me or my girlfriend. Whichever you’re more comfortable with.”

Smiling, she shook her head. “I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate me showing up with another guy’s jacket.”

He tugged the jacket back on. “No offense, but if your boyfriend would rather you get sick from the rain and cold than cover yourself with another guy’s jacket, then your boyfriend sucks.”

She laughed. “Maybe.” Tessa made a point of looking at her watch. “I have to go.”

When she held out the business card, he waved a hand. “Keep it. Just in case you or a friend might need it. I’m TJ, by the way.”

“Cassie,” she lied. “Have a nice night, TJ.” Stepping out into the rain, she smiled at him. “And steer clear of the trees.”

He laughed. “I will. Stay safe.”

“You, too.”

Tucking the card in her coat pocket, Tessa jogged away.

The clouds above lit up as jagged bolts of lightning carved paths through them. A second later, thunder boomed so loudly it sounded like an explosion. Jumping, she laughed at herself and glanced back.

TJ stood under the overhang, squinting up at the sky. If he thought to wait out the rain, he would be there awhile because the storm seemed to intensify rather than letting up.

He must’ve drawn the same conclusion. Hunching his shoulders, he darted out into the rain and loped away, heading straight across the sidewalk and disappearing behind another building instead of turning right and following her.

Good.

Facing forward, Tessa picked up her pace. Wind whipped her. Big drops pounded her. Her shoes produced greater and greater splashes as they hit the pavement, delighting the child in her.

Exhilaration brought a smile to her dripping face as the pleasure she’d taken in the run before TJ’s interruption returned. Her body remained toasty warm throughout. Even her fingertips were warm, something that continued to amaze her.

A lightning bolt arced down from the sky and pierced the trees in the distance, so bright it nearly blinded her.

That must have touched down somewhere.

Her smile faltered. Could Immortal Guardians survive lightning strikes?

Hmm. No one had mentioned that, so Tessa thought it best not to test it. Slowing, she took stock of the security cameras—something Sean had drummed into her on their hunts—then slipped behind a building into the nearest blind spot.

She’d give Jared a call. He wouldn’t mind teleporting her to Sean’s, and she didn’t want him to pop in somewhere cameras might catch it.

More light flashed. Sharp pain pricked her upper back.

Crying out, Tessa froze.

Had lightning just struck her?

No. That would’ve hurt like hell, even as an immortal. This had felt more like the hard jab of a needle.

She sucked in a breath. A needle?

Reaching over her shoulder, she clawed at her back until her fingers encountered something cold and hard. After yanking it out, she stared at the long tranquilizer dart.

Weakness seeped into her.

Oh crap.

Tessa threw the dart down and shot away with every ounce of preternatural speed she possessed, her only thought to avoid capture. In this rain, even Immortal Guardians with senses more acute than a vampire’s couldn’t track her if she got far enough ahead of them to leave their sight. And so much water pooled in the grass and on the pavement that she doubted anyone hunting her could find her footprints.

Leaving the campus, she zipped across a street with no traffic and plunged into trees.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest as she forced increasingly sluggish limbs to help her flee. Jared. When Tessa reached into her coat to retrieve her phone, she stumbled and nearly fell. Her head spun. Her movements slowed. Only one drug could take down an Immortal Guardian, and it was doing its damnedest to incapacitate her.

Tessa doggedly continued forward, moving at mortal speeds now, never looking back. Her fingers grew so clumsy that it took her three tries to unlock her phone. She scrolled through her contacts until she found Jared’s name.

A heavy weight slammed into her back. The phone flew out of her hand as she tumbled forward. Her elbows and forearms hit the ground. Then she and the heavy body atop her slid forward several yards, floodwater spraying up as if she were a surfboard. Her right sleeve tore. Stinging pain erupted in her forearm. Stones and lumps in the uneven ground bruised her flesh. Her chin hit something hard as murky water invaded her mouth, nose, and eyes.

Tessa coughed and choked as they skidded to a halt. Gritty water obscured her vision.

“Damn, you’re fast,” a voice said in her ear. “I did not expect you to run.”

Sonofabitch! It was TJ!

Curling her fingers into the mud, Tessa prepared to lurch up and throw the bastard off. Safe mate, my ass. Icy fear filled her when she couldn’t raise her head more than a few inches, let alone the rest of her body. She was so weak! And she grew even weaker as TJ planted his hands on her back and pushed himself up to straddle her.

The last of her strength dissipated.

Her arms went limp.

Tessa’s face sank beneath the surface.

Muddy water invaded her mouth and nose as darkness claimed her.





Chapter Sixteen