Shadow Touched: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (A Touch of Vampire Book 1) by Becky Moynihan (great reads TXT) 📕

as I grabbed the top and heaved myself upward. My feet scrambled for purchase, my bruised shoulder screaming at me, but I managed to roll over the fence and fall to the other side.

Pain stole my breath away when I awkwardly landed on my bad shoulder. Fates, I was an idiot. I struggled to breathe, to move. The guys drew nearer, a few of them laughing—like this was a freaking game. Gritting my teeth, I scrambled away from the fence.

And plunged into the graveyard.

8

“Oh, vixeeen, come out and play,” August singsonged, and his goons chortled.

I curled up against the headstone, knees pulled tightly to my chest. The guys had fanned out along the graveyard’s edges, trapping me somewhere in the middle. Now I was cowering in the shadows of a dead person.

Stop thinking about it, stop thinking about it.

But I couldn’t stop. Graveyards reminded me of my dead parents, of their bodies that had never been recovered. I’d only been three when their malfunctioning airplane had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, but I grew up with nightmares of being trapped alive underwater or underground.

Stuck in the darkness forever.

Slap! Hands came down on the headstone behind me. I yelped and scrambled away from the grasping fingers. More hands joined in, yanking my braids so that I fell backward to the ground. August loomed over me and I kicked at him, catching his inner thigh. He grunted but dropped down to trap me between his knees.

When his thighs squeezed my hips, panic flooded me in torrents. I bucked and writhed, extending my fingers to scratch him, but he caught my wrist in a punishing grip.

“Nah-ah,” he chided. “Scratch me once, shame on you. But you’re not getting the drop on me again. Where are those wicked talons of yours anyway? Decide to cut them?”

I whipped my other hand up, throwing a little surprise in his face. He reared back, cursing as fine dirt struck his eyes. I aimed for his cheek and dragged my fingernails over the angry claw marks. He bellowed and grabbed my flailing hand before it could do more damage. Then squeezed.

I choked on a sob as he bent the delicate bones to the point of breaking.

“August, you’re hurting her, man,” one of his companions said nervously, but August only laughed.

“Have you seen my face? She deserves it. In fact—” He wrestled both arms above my head, pinning them down with one hand before fishing something out of his pocket with the other. Flicking his wrist, he pointed a switchblade at my face. “—I think I’ll return the favor.”

My breaths came in ragged gasps as he lowered the knife to my cheek. “Please,” I whimpered. “Please don’t.”

He paused. For a split second, I let myself hope that he had a decent bone in his body after all. But then he cocked his head to the side and said, “I remember now. That’s exactly what I said, right before I was mauled to an inch of my life.”

The blade’s tip shifted, sliding down my face to my neck without cutting.

“This was the first spot. A bite mark,” he murmured, almost trancelike, then dug the blade into my neck just above the shoulder. The skin split and I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting back tears. “Next, I was slashed across the chest by claws.”

He palmed the blade and grabbed my V-neck. A loud rip cleaved the air as he yanked on the material. I screamed.

Whoosh!

In a blur of movement, his weight vanished.

My eyes flew open and I swallowed another scream. Because there, towering over me, was the red-eyed man. Black shadows curled up his legs, torso, and arms, obscuring his face. All except for his eyes.

It was him. I was certain this time.

It was Shadow Man.

The temperature plummeted as I beheld his cold, furious countenance. But, for once, those piercing eyes weren’t on me. They were focused on August, whose feet dangled inches from the ground, his neck caught in the man’s viselike grip.

“Take care of the others,” he said, his voice sharp like a whip.

I struggled to prop my weight on my elbows, flinching when a gust of air whooshed by me. The other guys must have taken off, leaving their friend behind.

“You should have listened,” Shadow Man said to August, whose legs began to flail uselessly. “I won’t spare you this time.”

I cringed when desperate choking noises left August as the life was slowly squeezed out of him. I loathed the guy, but I didn’t want him dead, especially not because of me.

“S-stop,” I managed to say. “Please.”

Those eyes—those blood-red eyes—lowered to fix on me.

Predator. Run! my instincts screamed.

But I remained glued to the spot, heart in my throat, unable to look away. I didn’t know if it was fear, stupidity, or something else entirely that made me stay. “Please don’t kill him,” I said, louder this time.

He continued to silently stare, long enough for August’s body to go limp. Then he dropped him. After a moment, August rolled over and heaved air into his starved lungs. He coughed and groaned, but he was alive. He started to crawl away, eyes wide with undiluted fear.

Shadow Man wasn’t done with him yet though. He crouched, gripping August’s shirt to bring them face-to-face. “Last warning. Never touch McKenna Belmont again. Nod that you understand.” August nodded woodenly. “Give me your car keys.” August obliged without comment, and the man casually chucked the keys behind him. “Now run, and forget my face.”

August immediately picked himself up and bolted.

Silence settled over the graveyard.

Wait a freaking second. What if Shadow Man had attacked August the night of the bonfire party? Maybe Reid had nothing to do with it. Okay, mind officially blown.

“You know my name,” I suddenly blurted. Then shivered, more from his lingering stare than the night’s chill. Silence stretched between us again.

Then he moved.

His approach was soundless, slow and calculated. He crouched before me like a phantom. I should have shoved him away. I should have run screaming. I remained perfectly