Free Scarlet Rain (The Escaped #2) by Kristin Cast Page B

very routine,” James lied. “My partner and I will get it handled quickly. No need to worry. Thank you for the coffee and everything, ma’am.” He stepped off the porch and immediately downloaded the attachment from his e-mail. “First Eva, and now some killer blood cloud. This circus shit is not what I signed up for.”

Nine
    Cal fought the restraints. Her flesh tore with each wild motion. “Off! Off!” she bellowed, unable to fit the word into a sentence.
    Darnell flinched as he wrestled with Cal’s thrashing arms. “Calista, calm down and tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you if you continue to fight me.”
    Terror knotted itself in her stomach as the realization that she was fighting for control of her body set in.
    “Megan, ETA!” Darnell shouted toward the front of the rig.
    “Less than two minutes,” the driver called over her shoulder.
    Cal opened her mouth to scream for help, but no words left her throat. The battle had ended in defeat. She could no longer form coherent thoughts. Overlapping, fragmented voices took hold of her and unlocked a long buried, primal, animalistic section of her psyche.
    You will not win. Mortals never win. We bring your species to its knees. We cannot remember much… yet. But we remember bodies. Perfect piles of bodies. Brought down by our creations. Our— the voices plaguing Cal’s thoughts paused, collectively searching their expanding vocabulary for an appropriate description— infections.
    But we are broken. Pieces are missing. She is missing. We need more power, more strength, more energy to transport Her from Her prison. You are not the last, Calista. We will hunt again, and She will not stay caged for long. When we are whole, this realm will once again be enslaved to the Nosoi.
    Cal surrendered to the wave of calm as the true Calista Rowland faded into nothing, digested by the infection boiling within her. Her appendages twitched with new life, and an unremitting buzzing coated the inside of her ears. Pain, fear, and joy no longer registered. She was of one emotion: rage.

Ten
    Eva inspected the half-dollar-sized burn healing on her palm. “Did you see that?” She looked up at Maiden. “That spark? There’s some really horrible static electricity going on down here.”
    “May I?” Maiden motioned toward Eva’s hand.
    Eva extended her palm face up. “It happened in the room, too. Right after I woke up, and again in your closet. This time was definitely the worst though. Does that kind of thing happen a lot down here?”
    Maiden shook her head and studied Eva’s hand. Concern wrinkled her forehead. She hastily led Eva to the door. “We must find Crone.”
    Eva rubbed at her new pink skin. “Wait. Why? You’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
    “Your wound is similar to those you sustained when you entered our realm.” Maiden made an abrupt turn and quickened her pace.
    “From all the extra energy that was created,” Eva recited from memory.
    “Yes, but this energy does not belong here.”
    Eva lengthened her stride to keep up with Maiden. “If it doesn’t belong here, what is it doing zapping the crap out of my hands?”
    “That is why we must locate my eldest sister. She is more experienced with such things and will know what to do.”
    They again entered the large hall where Mother sat silently reading in the candlelight.
    “Where is Crone?” Maiden asked brusquely. “I must locate her immediately.”
    “I believe she has gone to the Galazoneri to use its waters to contact the Fates,” Mother said without looking up from her scroll. “Why the haste in finding her?”
    “Eva, take Mother’s hand,” Maiden instructed.
    Eva let her fingers hover above Mother’s palm. “I’m sorry if this hurts you,” she said, before squeezing her eyes shut and poking Mother with her index finger.
    “And how might that cause me pain?” Mother asked.
    Eva opened her eyes. “Huh. It’s gone. We don’t have to worry about the whole energy