Free Dark Descendant by Jenna Black Page B

wasn’t particularly cold, but the air still felt icy against my
    sweaty skin. I was finally beginning to catch my breath after the long run, but my heart was still
    tripping on adrenaline.

    It was all I could do not to groan when I saw Blake’s silhouette as he stalked through a
    patch of sunlight. Goddammit! Why couldn’t he have just kept on running? Or better yet, given
    up the chase? I should theoretically have had enough of a head start that I could be anywhere by
    now, so why was he here ?

    I carefully slid over so that I was in the deepest pool of shadow available. I kept my
    entire body hidden behind one front wheel—the driver hadn’t bothered to straighten out once
    he’d pulled in, so the wheel gave me a gratifying amount of cover—and peeked from under the
    bumper to monitor Blake’s progress as he approached.

    He was moving slowly, staring at something in his hand. At first, I had no idea what he
    was doing, but when he got closer, I could see he was looking at the screen of a phone. I didn’t
    think he was checking his email or surfing the Internet.

    I mentally let out a stream of curses as I remembered Jack handing me my pocketbook.
    The purse itself had been ruined, but when I’d gotten home, I’d transferred its contents into my
    backpack. Evidence suggested there’d been something in that purse that wasn’t mine. Like, say,
    some kind of tracking device.

    I was sure the jig was up, but even so, I remained stubbornly hidden. Blake was so close
    now I could see the thin, angry line of his lips, and the dangerous intensity of his eyes. He stood
    at the top of the ramp and turned a full circle, looking back and forth between the phone screen
    and his surroundings.

    Maybe the smart thing to do would have been to leap to my feet the moment his back was
    turned and fire. I would have to take Maggie’s word for it that he was immortal and I couldn’t
    kill him by shooting him. I urged myself to do it, picturing myself as an action movie heroine
    blasting away, but the mental picture was so absurd it almost made me laugh.

    It would have taken at least an hour for me to talk myself into shooting, and I had about
    two seconds. Blake had finished his circle before I’d gotten through preliminary arguments. I
    thought sure the tracker was going to lead him straight to me, but he just stood there, scowling
    and shaking his head in frustration.

    Blake hit a button on his phone, then held it to his ear. I took a wild guess that he was
    calling Anderson, and that guess was confirmed by the conversation I overheard.

    “She’s in here somewhere,” he said into the phone. “Or at least her bag is. The tracker
    can’t tell me which floor she’s on. Jack gave you a cell phone number for her, didn’t he?”

    Oh, shit! My heart shot into my throat, and I reached for my backpack. I tried to hurry,
    but I was hampered by having to hold on to the gun and by having to be quiet. If I just yanked
    open the zipper, that sound would give me away just as effectively as the stupid cell phone.

    I didn’t make it.

    Before I’d even gotten the zipper halfway open, my cell phone played the opening riff of
    George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.” It had been Steph’s idea of a joke, but I kinda liked it.
    At least under normal circumstances.

    There was no point in hiding anymore, so I stood up and pointed the gun at Blake,
    praying that no one else would come along and become an inconvenient witness. I’d be in deep
    trouble if I got caught carrying a gun. Blake’s expression was somewhere between a sneer and a
    grin. I guess the lighting was kind of dim and he didn’t see the gun at first. When he did, the grin
    disappeared.

Half a second later, heat suffused my body. My nipples hardened to aching peaks,
    moisture flooded my core, and my eyes started to glaze over.

    The effect was almost instantaneous. One moment, I was staring down the barrel of my
    gun trying to work up the nerve to pull the