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

sound rising from its throat.
    In horror, I watched as the night lit up with at least ten sets of red eyes, accompanied by those odd, animalistic tongue clucks. The sound rose, making it hard to hear anything else.
    “Rook,” I said warily.
    “I know,” he said, voice sounding tight. Slowly, he reached to his side, where a handgun was holstered.
    With a roar, a human-like creature consisting of little more than flesh and bone sprang from the car, its fangs bared as a snarl ripped from its throat.
    It was heading straight for Rook. I knew he wouldn’t be able to turn around in time to do much about it. Screaming his name, I started forward when a gunshot rang out behind me, snatching the Rogue out of the air. It rolled on the ground a few times, clutching and clawing at the hole in its chest, which was beginning to glow. It screamed and writhed as the acid on the Scarlet Steel bullet ate it from the inside out.
    The other Rogues hissed, their clucking more frantic and frenzied at the smell of blood riding the air.
    Rook’s gaze snapped up and I whirled. Dezyre still had the gun raised, smoke rising out of the barrel. Her hands were shaking so badly it was causing the gun to rattle.
    Beside us, the downed Rogue continued to scream as its flesh rotted off. Almost faster than I could follow, more Rogues descended upon it, tearing into it and ripping it apart as it screamed louder.
    I cupped a hand over my mouth, tasting vomit.
    Rook grabbed my arm. “Time to go!”
    He yanked me forward, and I looked back at Dezyre, who was frozen. She was watching the massacre before her, eyes wide with terror. “Let’s go, Dezyre,” I said, grabbing hold of her wrist. She let me pull her forward, though her eyes remained locked on the horrific bloodbath playing out in front of the car.
    We ran as hard as we could, our footsteps pounding the pavement, echoing the thumping of o ur furiously beating hearts.
    A howl broke through th e snarls at our backs, followed by the sound of several sets of claws scraping against pavem ent. I glanced over my shoulder and nearly choked on my next breath. “Rook!” I shouted. “They’re coming after us!”
    Rook glanced back and swore. “ They’re too fast! We need to head toward the White Sector, where –”
    A Rogue leapt out in front of him, cutting him off. It gripped Rook by the shoulders, taking him to the ground.
    “Rook!” Dezyre screamed.
    Rook wrestled with the creature, holding it at bay with one hand on its throat while it snapped its teeth in his face and clawed his arms, creating long gashes.
    I rushed forward to help him when several hisses behind me made me whirl. Red eyes with a black slit down the middle, like cat’s eyes, glared back at me. Blood dripped from the Rogue’s fangs, reeking of death and life all at once.
    I sniffed, feeling the animalistic part of myself I kept caged up break loose and come to the surface. It took over as my fangs elo ngated. I rolled my neck and shoulders, curving my fingers like claws. “If you want me,” I said, voice deep and feral, “then come and get me.”
    The Rogue roared and lunged for my throat , at which I sidestepped it and broke its neck with one swift move. As it slumped to the ground, I turned and ducked as a clawed hand swung over my head, trying to take it clean off. “Missed,” I said, springing up with a palm gouge toward its chest. The creature’s purple skin was so thin and sickly that my hand went straight through. The Rogue stared at the place where my arm was buried in its chest, nearly up to my elbow, and I ripped my fist out with a vicious cry. The monster staggered, its still be ating heart clasped in my hand. The Rogue shuddered and then fell to the ground, dead.
    Around me, gunshots rang out as Dezyre fired again and again at whichever Rogues came her way. She was a surprisingly good shot, but then again I hope d she would be since they were practically at point- blank range. Rook had planted a fist in the