Free Hunting the Shadows by Alexia Reed Page B

answer, J.C. tried that link between them again.
    A bead of wetness slide from his hairline. Lifting a hand, J.C. wiped at the substance, but his fingers came back dry. He frowned. His clothes felt tight as he moved across the room, the feel of wet material clinging to him.
    He shivered and swiped at the water that fell into his eyes but there was nothing. His hand stilled mid-air, then dropped back to his side.
    “J.C., please…he tried to kill me.”
    Pain—sharp and agonizing—made his entire body tense. J.C. dropped his hand to his thigh expecting to find a wound. He let out a slow, ragged breath between clenched teeth. Everything blurred and for one long moment, the room disappeared, replaced with the thick brush of trees and rocky ground beneath his feet.
    She was outside.
    Dropping his hand to his side, he made sure he still had his gun.
    “What are you talking about? We got him, Amy. Tristan was the killer. He’s dead.” Where was she?
    “No you didn’t. I don’t know who you got but it wasn’t him. Trust me, J.C., he wasn’t the Psychic Vampire.”
    He looked over at Ajay. “I have to go.”
    “You can’t. You have to get looked at, J.C.”
    He caught her hands and forced her to stay put as he stepped around her. “Ajay, we didn’t get the killer.” His instincts told him to trust Amy. He needed to find her. “Gather the team and go over Tristan’s files. I want to know everything about him, more than he knew about himself.”
    “But J.C., you jus—”
    He had no time to fight with her. “Do it, Ajay. That’s an order, Agent.”
    He stepped into the hall, movements rigid and jerky, almost as though his body was on autopilot. His limp was not his own, the agony only imagined. Taking another staggering step, he merged his mind completely with Amy’s. There were no words to describe the pain or the panic that shook his body.
    She broadcasted her senses, so loud that she tore at his defenses, shredding through them as though they were nothing more than mere pieces of paper.
    He reached for her. “Where are you?”
    The moment he stepped into the storm, the rain pelted him, instantly soaking his skin and clothes. He ripped through ferns that grabbed at his legs, pushing his way through thick brush and over fallen trees. Lightning forked overhead and lit his path for the briefest of seconds before plunging him back into darkness.
    When she started to slip away, he forced her to keep her mind open to his as he strained to see through her eyes. His mind was stronger and he used that, feeling the rough bark under her hands. She was on the verge of falling apart, struggling to stay awake.
    “Lost.”
    Her admission made the corners of his lips curl. It wasn’t amusing that she was lost or hurt. What was amusing was the stubbornness behind the word. Despite the dizzying pain and exhaustion, she wasn’t lying down and giving in. He had to admire that.
    Now, all he had to do was find her.

Chapter Seven
    Moistening her lips, Amy tentatively stepped over a fallen log, red hot sparks shooting up her leg. With a strangled cry she fell back to the ground, lowering her forehead to the damp leaves.
    “Get it together,” she whispered, voice hoarse. She needed to stay conscious.
    She glanced upward at the darkened sky, drops of rain rolling down the side of her face.
    She wanted to believe this was a nightmare.Almost wished that she was still in bed, locked in her room.
    Steeling herself, Amy clamped a hand tightly over her thigh. Blood pushed between her fingers, the warm liquid spilling down her leg. The movement stole her breath but she needed to staunch the bleeding. Scrambling up on one leg, she leaned against the rough bark of a tree, waiting until the spinning stopped. She swayed. If she passed out, she wasn’t going to be getting back up.
    Amy pressed the back of one shaking hand to her mouth. Ohgodohgodohgod.
    Hysteria clawed at her throat and threatened to drive her to her knees. “It’s going