My Lord Immortality (Immortal Rogues #3)(4)

Even from a distance she could sense a dark, smoldering malice. It was in the unnatural chill in the air. In the thick silence that was nearly choking.

And there was a smell ... a smell of cold steel shared with something far more foul.

Prickles of alarm raced down her spine as she heedlessly dropped the candle. She should flee, a voice warned from the back of her mind. Whatever was in the shadows was evil. And dangerous. She had to leave before it could turn the malignant attention in her direction.

A wise decision, no doubt. Unfortunately, it had barely formed in her mind when the shadow stilled and then slowly shifted toward her frozen form.

"Who is there?" a voice hissed.

Amelia bit her bottom lip to keep herself from squeaking in startled alarm. Through the hedge it appeared that the shadow was ... formless. As though it flowed and shifted like mercury upon water. It had to be a trick of the moonlight, she tried to reassure herself. Shapeless shadows did not exist except in children's nightmares. Not even on the narrow, mean streets of London.

Then the shadow once again shifted and, unbelievably, Amelia's horror only deepened. There was something on the ground. A body, she slowly realized. A body that was not moving and that was covered in a dark, ghastly dampness that she very much feared was blood.

Dear heavens, she had to get away.

"I feel you," the shadow rasped in a hollow voice. "I smell your lovely, warm blood. Come to me. Come and offer yourself to me."

A faint tingle raced through Amelia at the command. Almost as if the words held a strange power. But even as her mind seemed to cloud, there was a sharp stab of warmth that seared against her skin. Her trembling fingers lifted to touch the amulet about her neck. It was hot to the touch, and strangely comforting.

The shadow, however, appeared to shrink as she grimly held onto the Medallion, a steely hiss echoing through the air.

"You." Slowly, steadily the shadow grew larger, leeching its way toward the hedge. "Come to me."

"No," Amelia whispered, forcing her shaky legs to take a step backward.

"Do not fear. I will not harm you. Come."

Amelia froze. What was this thing? Nothing human, surely? A thing of nightmares. Of horror stories.

A sob was wrenched from her throat, but even as the shadow neared, there was a sudden flurry of movement from behind the shadow. In less than the beat of a heart, a large, utterly solid form had blocked the path between her and the advancing danger.

A form that thankfully appeared to be human.

"Halt." The new form held up an arm and Amelia could see the glint of a sharp blade in the silver moonlight. "I will not allow this."

A dark, grating laugh echoed through the silence. " You? You will not allow?"

Amelia's rescuer never wavered. "No."

"Do not be more of a fool than you need to be. Return to your books and pathetic studies.

You do not possess the courage nor the will to confront me."

"Shall we see? Shall we test the strength of my dagger? I do not fear you."

Lost in a thick fog of terror, Amelia nevertheless managed to notice that the gentleman now standing between her and the shadow was surprisingly large. Not only tall, but broad through the shoulders and possessing the type of chiseled muscles not often seen in society.

She also realized that his rich, smoky tones held a trace of an accent that was impossible to trace.

Not that she particularly cared if he were a foreigner or not, she acknowledged with a near-hysterical urge to laugh. At the moment she would have welcomed the devil himself if he were here to protect her.

The shadow seemed to swirl, then, with a sudden hiss, it slowly began to retreat toward the nearby stables.

"We will settle this later, fool. I must think how best to punish you for your insolence," the shadow warned before it disappeared entirely.

For a breathless moment there was nothing but the thick silence, then, with a flowing swiftness that was oddly similar to that of the deadly shadow, the gentleman turned and threaded his way through the thick hedge. Amelia regarded him with a sense of lingering shock, not even flinching when he reached out to gently touch her hair.

"Are you harmed?" he demanded in soft tones.

Amelia struggled to breathe as she pressed a hand to her painfully racing heart. "No. I.. what was that thing?"

He seemed to hesitate. "A creature A creature of the dark."

"Creature?" Amelia gave a sudden shudder. Did he mean an animal? No. She had seen what she had seen. That had been something other than human or animal. "What sort of creature'?"

Without warning, he reached out to grasp her arm in a firm grip. "Come, we must not linger here."

Before she even knew what was happening, Amelia discovered herself being tugged away from the hedge and turned back down the alley toward her home. Just for a moment, she allowed herself to follow his lead, wanting nothing more than to be back in the comforting familiarity of her tiny home Then she abruptly dug her bare heels into the dirt.

"Wait. I must find my brother I was following him when that shadow appeared."

His grip tightened, almost as if he considered physically dragging her away from danger. Then he drew in a deep breath.

"Very well, but we must be swift," he said. Without waiting for her approval, the man turned and began searching the high hedges for a sign of her missing brother. He had taken only half a dozen steps when he softly called out, "He is here."