Free Katie's Hellion (Rhyn Trilogy, Book One) by Lizzy Ford Page A

exit as fast as she
could in the snug dress and high heels.
    Suddenly, the lights flickered and went out.
A murmur went through the dancers, several of whom sounded as if
they ran into each other before pausing. The orchestra fell silent,
and somewhere someone --possibly the host --called for the
generators to be turned on. A woman gave a cry, and the sound of
jostling grew closer.
    A man walked calmly through the crowd,
strange red tattoos glowing all over his body, similar to the
tattoos she'd seen on David Kingsly's neck when he invited her to
the gala. She didn’t know what he was, but she felt cold
inside.
    He was evil.
    Kris rested one hand on her shoulder. She
started to pull away.
    "He can’t sense you while I’m here," Kris
whispered.
    She watched as the creature neared in the
shadowy darkness. Katie's breathing grew shallow. Her eyes stayed
on the creature, which joined several more tattooed beings in the
hall before they all struck out in different directions.
    As if on cue, the auxiliary lighting came on,
casting a romantic glow around her.
    "No one should know you're here. We gotta get
out of here," Kris said.
    His hand gripped her neck loosely. A pulse of
warmth dispelled the tunnel vision that had begun to form.
    "We'll take a shortcut."
    He took her hand and led her through the
crowd at a steady pace. She looked over her shoulder, uncertain
where the men with tattoos were. She didn’t know what they --or he --wanted, but if the man before her was worried, she
should be terrified. Kris reached an alcove out of sight of the
crowds and faced her.
    "Close your eyes," he ordered.
    She stared at him. He gripped her arm. Before
she could shove him away, the sounds of their world fell silent.
She looked around, stunned. Their surroundings looked as if someone
had left a fog machine on too long in a gym. Several doorways
glowed around her, and Kris yanked her toward one. She opened her
mouth to speak and then clamped it shut, her stomach turning. He
all but dragged her through one of the glowing doorways before she
vomited.
    Kris muttered curses and touched her
shoulder.
    Warmth and cold shot through her, righting
her stomach but bringing intense pain to her head. She pushed his
hand away, unable to stabilize the hot and cold racing through her
blood. Her teeth chattered and her body felt so hot she wanted to
scream.
    "Stop it!" she all but shouted. "God, my
head!" She gripped it, vision blurred and balance precarious atop
the four-inch heels. He reached for her and she stumbled back,
holding up her hand to ward him off. He snatched both hands in one
of his, balancing her with his body as he placed his other hand
against her forehead. The sensations stabilized and then
dissipated.
    "Enough, enough, enough!" she belted with a
shove.
    Her vision cleared to reveal she now stood in
a luxurious living room with several people in front of her
displaying varying levels of alarm on their faces. She wiped the
tears from her face, feeling more torn up than she had the day
before. Tattoos flared on the arms and necks of the people in front
of her before fading and growing invisible again.
    "Whiskey?" Ully was the first to speak.
    "Two," Kris replied.
    She caught her balance against the arm of a
sofa.
    "Your rescue mission went well," one of them
commented with a half smile.
    He was built like Kris with dark hair. The
similarities stopped at their tanzanite eyes and chiseled features;
the speaker’s skin was as dark as night.
    "Are you all right?" he asked. He rose and
motioned for her to take his seat in a plush armchair.
    She didn’t answer, concentrating on figuring
out where the hell she was.
    "I’m Andre. This is Jade and Ileana. You know
my brother Kris. You also know Gabriel and Ully, I believe."
    She lowered herself onto the sofa.
    "Feels like I've been on a drinking binge,"
she murmured.
    "Kris, real people aren’t supposed to go
through the shadow world," Ully said, wide eyes on the man with
glowing amber