Rider on Fire & When You Call My Name: Rider on Fire / When You Call My Name. Sharon Sala

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      Chapter 5

      A man was in the motel parking lot cursing the flat he’d found on his car as a police siren sounded a few blocks over.

      Sonora heard none of it. The air-conditioning unit near her bed was a buffer against the heat outside, as well as the noise. She slept deeply and without moving, until she began to dream.

      * * *

      She was surrounded by trees. The wind was rustling the leaves overhead. In the distance, she could hear coyotes. She was lost, and yet she wasn’t afraid. Something flew past her—most likely an owl. They were night hunters—like her. As soon as she thought that, she frowned. Why had she referred to herself as a night hunter? That made no sense.

      A twig snapped off to her right.

      Sonora froze. Something—or someone—was out there.

      “Who’s there?” she asked, and then feared the answer.

      Another twig snapped. This time from behind her. She wanted to turn around, but as always, she couldn’t move.

      “Stop it,” she yelled. “Either speak up or get the hell away from me. This isn’t funny!”

      Wind lifted the hair from the back of her neck as she curled her fingers into fists. It took a few moments for it to sink in that the gust of wind was past, but that her hair was still up.

      She heard a sigh, then felt something brush the skin above her collar.

      “No, no, no,” she moaned. “I want to wake up.”

      “Not yet,” someone whispered.

      Sonora shuddered.

      “Shh, pretty woman…you are safe.”

      “Oh, God, oh, God, I need this to stop. I’m waking up now. Do you hear me? I’m waking up now!”

      She closed her eyes, counted to ten and then opened them, expecting to be anywhere but in a forest, in the dark, with a stranger at her back.

      “Why am I not awake?” she moaned.

      “Because we are not done,” he said softly.

      “Then show yourself, damn it!”

      There was a long moment of silence. Sonora waited—uncertain what would happen first. Either he would disappear, or she would wake up. Then suddenly, her hair was laying against her neck once more, and she thought she heard him whisper something near her ear. She wasn’t sure. It could have been the wind, but she thought she heard him say, “As you wish.”

      She closed her eyes.

      “Look at me.”

      Panic hit her like a blow to the gut. Be careful of what you ask for, she thought.

      “Woman. Look. At. Me.”

      His voice was firm, but she was no longer afraid.

      She took a deep breath and then opened her eyes just as a cloud blew over the moon. In the dark, all she could see were his eyes, looking down at her and glittering like a wolf.

      So he was tall.

      She felt his breath upon her face, or maybe it was just the wind.

      “Do you see me?” he asked.

      The wind blew the last of the cloud away from the face of the moon, and he was revealed to her in the moonlight.

      It was a stunning face—a face that appeared to have been carved out of rock—all angles and hard planes—except for his mouth. It was full and curved in just a hint of a smile. When he saw that she was looking at his lips, she saw his nostrils flare.

      “I see you,” she said.

      “Then come to me,” he demanded.

      * * *

      Sonora woke up just as someone fell against the outside door of her motel room. She heard a burst of muffled laughter and then the sounds faded away.

      “Oh, God, what is happening to me?” she whispered. “Am I going insane?”

      She swung her legs over the side of the bed and looked for the digital clock. It was either broken or unplugged, because the digital readout was dark. She turned on a light, then glanced around for her watch. She didn’t see it, tried to remember when she’d looked at it last and failed.

      “Great,” she muttered, then stumbled to the window. It was still daylight outside.

      She glanced back at the bed and then frowned. There was no way she was going СКАЧАТЬ