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

okay. What the—? “No!” I screamed. “He’s a killer! Get away!” But my warning fell on deaf ears. He peered down at the dagger in Everett’s thigh, then ripped it out.

Everett grunted in pain. Shockingly, so did Pizza Guy, dropping the dagger to clutch his hand. Was the skin smoking? It was. His freaking hand was smoking. Every internal alarm I possessed screamed at me to run as fast as humanly possible.

But Aunt Tess was still in the house. I couldn’t leave her here. While I struggled with what to do, a small whimper came from inside Pizza Guy’s car. I squinted to see past the tinted windshield and spotted a pale face framed by blonde hair. I blinked until the features sharpened and I recognized who it was.

Disbelief crashed into me, then horror when I realized the danger she was in. I lurched forward, poking my head inside to gape at the person in the passenger’s seat.

“Isla?”

28

“Kenna, I’m so sorry.” Isla’s chin wobbled as she choked out the words. Tears and mascara streaked down her blanched cheeks, her hair in wild disarray.

I was missing something important here, but I didn’t have time to ask questions. “Isla, get out of the car and run. I think Pizza Guy might be a vampire too.”

“I-I can’t,” she stammered. “He told me to stay, so I have to.”

“What?” I hissed. “Isla, we don’t have time for this. We have to go now.” I dashed around the car and yanked open her door. “Get out!”

“I can’t,” she wailed, twisting her phone in her hands. “It’s the thrall, Kenna. I have to do what he tells me. He made me call you to lure you outside. I’m so sorry.”

“Oh, Isla,” I whispered as sobs shook her shoulders. I bent and pried the phone from her grip. “I’m going to fix this. I’ll—”

“Hand it over.”

I whirled, yelping when I found Pizza Guy behind me. Before he could stop me, I dialed the police. When I heard someone pick up, I blurted, “There’s two men at my house trying to kill me. My address is—”

He yanked the phone away and crushed it the same way Everett had. “Tut tut, my pet. No need for that,” he crooned, dropping the destroyed electronic. “We’ll get this sorted out in a minute when my brother arrives.”

At my bewildered look, he sighed in mock exasperation. “He didn’t tell you about me? I’m offended.”

Stalling for time while I tried to come up with an escape plan, I said, “What did you do to Isla?”

His amber eyes lit with delight, and he licked his bottom lip seductively. “Oh, you’ve got fire. I like playing with fire. And don’t you worry about your little friend. I take much better care of my servants than Everett does.”

I shifted, blocking his view of Isla. “Servant? She’s not your servant.”

He threw me a devilish smirk and crossed his arms. “On the contrary, fiery one. A human’s sole purpose is to service a vampire’s needs. We’re at the top of the food chain, and humans are simply . . . food.” When he chuckled at the sickening joke, anger shot through me.

“Well, I happen to know your weaknesses. And when my friends get here, they’ll help me remove your head and burn it to ash. Or maybe I won’t wait and just do this.” I lunged forward, taking him by surprise. His eyes rounded as my outstretched fingers reached for his bare hand. Arms plucked me up midair before I could make contact, banding around my middle.

“Stab me again and I’ll snap your little neck,” Everett’s deep baritone rumbled through my back. He drove home the threat by squeezing me tightly, nearly crushing my ribs. Tears sprung to my eyes as all oxygen was forced from me in a painful rush.

The deafening sound of squealing tires and exploding gravel suddenly blasted through my ear canals.

“Let the fun begin,” Pizza Guy hummed.

One second, I was being pulverized by a bear hug, and the next, thrown clear of the action. I hit a thin patch of snow and tumbled a few feet, the wind completely knocked out of me. I rolled over just in time to see Everett’s body soar through the air and smash into my Honda’s rear windshield.

I struggled to sit up, then froze when I saw who had thrown Everett like a ragdoll. Lochlan was storming down the driveway, a vengeful god with fury slashed across his face. Even in midday, shadows twisted angrily around him. His eyes blazed red, fixed on the man climbing off my ruined car. I must have moved or made a sound, because his attention suddenly snapped to me.

My breath hitched as I bore the weight of his wrath. Although not meant for me, I wrestled with the need to cower before him.

“Kade, get the girls out of here,” he said, his voice barely containing the inferno raging within.

“Don’t go anywhere near my car, Feltore,” Pizza Guy drawled, sliding in front of the passenger door as Kade approached.

“Loch, you’ve disregarded the rules long enough,” Everett called, lightly dropping to his feet as if he hadn’t just plowed through glass. “Troy and I are done waiting. We’ve come for what is rightfully ours as well.”

Something flickered in Lochlan’s eyes, something so foreign that it took me a moment to place. But when I did, my heart thundered frantically.

Fear.

Lochlan D’angelo was afraid.

His anger quickly drained away, his eyes bleeding to black. The fear vanished next, replaced with a stone wall of indifference. He turned to Everett. “Listen to me. I—”

“No, I’m done playing games with you,” Everett interrupted, slashing a hand through the air. “I gave you a chance to fess up weeks ago. Did you really think I’d buy that lame story about setting up a trap for the Syphon in her hometown? I know you too well. It’s why I followed you here and used a human to force your hand. Now let’s go before any more damage is done.”

Lochlan’s hands