Free Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) by Krystle Jones Page A

glance at me. “Orion will need food , and that’s the first place he’ll look.”
    My stomach twisted, kno wing by “food” he meant “humans ” . Though I knew I needed blood to survive now, I still wasn’t comfortable with the thought of drinking from humans like they were Gatorade for Vamps .
    “I found Aden’s files on Orion, dubbed ‘Project Red Death,’ so I know all about the virus,” Rook said.
    My brows lifted. “Really?”
    From the backseat, Dezyre listened intently.
    Rook shrugged. “Well, enough to kn ow he’s dangerous. W e need to bring him to justice before he has a chance to cause any more harm, to us or to the humans.”
    “Paris thinks she can manufacture a cure,” I said. “I f we can get a sample of his blood.”
    Rook’s frown deepened. “We need to find him first. In addition to food, he’ll have plenty of places to hide in Pittsburgh. If he’s going to be anywhere, it’ll be –”
    Something la rge jumped in front of the car. Rook swore, swerving to miss it. My gaze snapped forward, trying to lock onto whatever we were trying to miss, but right then the car flipped. T he world spun in an awful vortex of grating metal and Dezyre’s screams as the car rolled o ff the road and slammed, upside down, in to an embankment.
    For a few frantic moments, all I could do was siphon air in and out, in and out. With my heart in my throat, I fought the tremble trying to take control of my body as blood rushed to my head. Forcing myself to think rationally despite my panic, I looked around. Where the hell was my seat belt latch ?
    There it was, the little silver buckle that had kept my head from becoming a pancake against the windows. It took me three times to release the belt because my hands were shaking so badly, but it gave with a snap and I fell forward as the belt retracted back into the side of the car.
    Beside me, Rook groaned, going for his own seat belt. “Everyone okay?” he asked.
    “Y-yes,” came Dezyre’s shaky reply. She was already free and trying to climb out the now busted window to her left.
    Searching for my own exit, I tried first rolling down the window. When it wouldn’t budge, I took to opening the door, which proved difficult because it was wedged against the incline of the embankment. Shoving my shoulder into the door, I heaved until I felt it give and then forced it open. The space was barely enough for me to crawl out through.
    Easing myself up through the crack, I tumbled over the side of the d oor and onto the brown grass. It snapped and rustled beneath my touch, the long, brittle stalks protesting my weight as I hauled myself up and dusted off my jeans. My breath was still coming in heavy gasps , barely able to keep up with my now racing heart. A hot stream dribbled down the side of my face, and I r eached up to wipe it away. S yrupy blood smeared between my fingertips. G inger l y, I touched the rising lump on my temple . I couldn’t remember hitting my head .
    Dezyre also wore a few scrapes and extra bruises, but she looked alert and ready. Her dark doe eyes scanned the area, the gun already in her hands. “What was that?”
    “I don’t know,” Rook said, staggering up to us. His face was covered in blood, thanks to the deep gash across his forehead . “I couldn’t get a good look at it.”
    A chorus of stuttering, tongue-clucking noises filled the air, turning my insides to ice. The three of us whirled around, our backs to one another, as a dark shape l eapt on top of the upturned car and watched us with glowing red eyes.
    “A Rogue,” Dezyre whispered, her voice sounding tiny in the sudden stillness.
    Something moved to the left. Not wanting to take my eyes off the Rogue for long, I quickly spared a glance at the shadow.
    I thought my heart would stop.
    Things were moving behind the debris scattered around us; a clawed hand gripped a spent light pole, peering around it with a set of red eyes. Another shadow crouched behind us, a low, guttural