Free Tora (The Tora Trilogy Book 1) by Lucy Nichols Page B

shadows sizing up behind her. But one was particularly frightening. A dark silhouette, resembling an elongated arm and a large set of claws extended towards her. Eva’s back cramped in fear in anticipation of the horrible pain that would follow.
    A firm, solid hand latched onto her shoulder. She didn’t jump in surprise, she knew eventually the shadows would get to her. Exhaustion washed over her whole body. Her limbs felt broken. A defeated sigh slipped from her mouth. Her body was trembling when she dared to steal a glimpse behind her.
    But it wasn’t the shadows that she was seeing.
    Or a dream at all.
    It was Daniel.
    Darkly handsome, standing steady in a trough of water rising up mid-calf, was the guy in her class Eva had taken a fond attraction to. Shirtless, he was even more attractive in the moonlight. She caught a view of his contoured muscular physique, his strong arms and his smooth chest wading through the murky water. In his presence, he seemed to glow more in the light illuminating the golden glow of his skin. But there was no time to be breathless and bashful about him. The shadows were what she had to worry about.
    In one hand he was gripping her shoulder and in the other, he tried to warn off the shadows.
    “Daniel.” She gasped in horror.
    He didn’t look the least bit horrified by the shadows. In fact, hardly any emotion played on his expression. His eyes only seemed to widen in alarm when Eva called his name. But Daniel was more anxious about Eva.
    She heard a loud whisper that sounded almost unearthly as it drummed inside her head. As Eva watched over Daniel’s shoulder at what he was doing, she saw the shadows gradually getting smaller and smaller until they were there no more.
    In a last attempt to reach her, they dissipated as the deathly shadows hit the water and rushed towards her.
    Daniel pushed in front of her and held out his hand as if to tame them, and suddenly they shattered in the water like glass.
    As soon as Daniel was done, he turned back to Eva, grabbed her by the hand and pulled her back to the shore.
    The shock of what happened prevented her from feeling anything of the freezing cold. Her whole body felt numb, paralysed. The vision of the shadows racing towards her replayed in her mind. Then the realisation kicked in that the shadows hadn’t gripped her shoulder blade instead, it was Daniel’s firm, reassuring hand. But what the heck had Daniel been doing out here? And why wasn’t he spending time with his friends and that girl? Had Daniel just seen what she saw?
    He held out his hand and the shadows just stopped in their tracks…..
    Placing her down carefully over a rock, his eyes ran over her in concern.
    “What are you doing here?” Eva fumbled. She let out a shaky breath.
    “What are you doing here.” Daniel countered evenly.
    “Swimming obviously.” Eva shrugged, but she didn’t feel near relaxed after what had felt like a near death experience.
    “You shouldn’t be here.” Daniel informed, skirting over the reason why he’d been at the lake. He sounded annoyed.
    “Says who.” Eva tried to sound flirty, but her voice seized up.
    For a moment Daniel’s face darkened. “You almost ..” He paused, doubting his choice of words.
    “What?” Eva frowned, unsure of what he meant exactly.
    “Never mind. He sighed then added, “It’s not important.”
    Eva became conscious of the distance between them. Their bodies were so close they were almost touching. She could feel the delicious heat radiating over her body.
    When she looked up, she sensed he had noticed it to, in the way he avoided looking at her eyes and moved backwards slightly.
    “But what were you doing here?” Eva insisted.
    Daniel hesitated, his shoulders tensing up. His mind seemed to be elsewhere; his eyes distant and morose.
    “It doesn’t matter what I was doing here.” He brushed off.
    “Did you see the shadows?” Eva asked, terrified that they might come back to her any moment. “Surely