Free The Gathering by Lily Graison Page B

heart
hammering in her chest as she looked at the man who stood in her
path. It took her a few minutes to recognize him and her eyes
widened when she did.
    “Please get out of the car, Ms. Ford.”
    She didn’t have time to do as he asked before
the door was jerked open. “Kill the engine.”
    Rayna scowled at the man standing there.
“Erik Foster. Why am I not surprised?”
    “You know my name?”
    “Of course. Garrett told me. He also told me
you were a liar and that you were up to no good. I guess he was
right.”
    Erik laughed before reaching in and turning
the car off. Rayna winced when he pulled her roughly from the
vehicle. “I’ll have to work harder on my acting skills. I was sure
Garrett bought my reason for being at the house.”
    “Well, unlike you,” Rayna said, “Garrett
isn’t stupid.”
    He slapped her, her head turning with the
blow. She stared at the ground, her eyes watering before he jerked
her around to face him again.
    Stan took a step forward. “That isn’t
necessary. We aren’t to harm her.”
    Erik grinned. “I didn’t harm her. Besides, a
little slap is the least of her problems.”
    Rayna turned her attention to Stan. He looked
exactly how she remembered him. Tall, thin, wearing jeans and
cowboy boots. A brown corduroy jacket paired with a hat in the same
color completed the look.
    He’d been missing since the night Malcolm had
died. The pack had searched the mountain for him with no luck. She
didn’t get time to wonder where he’d been when the sound of a car
caught her attention. Turning her head, she saw an SUV coming
toward them.
    When it stopped, and the doors on the
passenger side opened, Rayna could only stare as Carmen stepped out
onto the road followed closely by a man she’d never forget.
    The vampire, Sabriel.

Chapter Six
     
     
     
    Sabriel was the first vampire Rayna had ever
met. He’d shocked her so much upon meeting him, and seeing his
fangs when he smiled at her, that she’d laughed in his face. She
wasn’t laughing now.
    She stared at him as he rounded the front of
the SUV, stepping into the light. The last time she saw him he’d
been wearing a suit and a silk shirt while attending Malcolm’s
little infection party. Now, he wore black slacks and a shirt in
the same vibrant green as his eyes.
    Her heart started pounding the longer she
looked at him and she turned away, hoping her face didn’t show her
surprise. She focused her gaze on Carmen and took a steadying
breath to try and calm her nerves.
    Carmen walked toward her, glancing into the
backseat of Mitch’s car before smiling. “Going somewhere?”
    The urge to play a deaf mute was great but
Rayna felt a prickling along her limbs. Heat surged through her
body and she knew the wolf was stirring. She smiled and looked
Carmen in the eye. “I was just going to drive down to the corner
market and pick up a Slurpee. You want me to grab one for you,
too?”
    Carmen wasn’t amused. “Either you’re trying
to be funny or you’re just too stupid to realize how serious your
situation is.”
    Rayna’s smile widened. “It doesn’t really
matter what I think, does it? I’m sure you’re not here to say your
good-byes.”
    “No. I’m not.” Carmen stared at her for long
minutes before sighing. “I really wished you would have stayed at
the house. I was looking forward to killing you.”
    Rayna spread her arms wide. “Nothing’s
stopping you.”
    “Ah, but no one is here to see your last
minutes. It wouldn’t be quite as fun to just drop your bloody
corpse on Garrett’s door. I want to see his face as your life
drains away.”
    “Dramatic,” Rayna said. “You should have been
a writer instead of a bitch. You may have been able to get more
attention.”
    The slap Carmen delivered hurt worse than
when Erik hit her. She knew then Erik hadn’t meant to hurt her.
Carmen did.
    When her eyes stopped watering, Rayna jerked
her arm away from Erik and straightened her spine. “I’m getting a
little