Within The Shadows
Page 20
“I’ve made an oath to protect you, and I will keep my word.” He smiled at me.
“Good. Then let’s do this. Not that I’m ready, but . . . Yeah . . . Let’s do this!”
As soon as I made that affirmation, Antoine grabbed me by the hand, and led me towards the back of the car. We had parked close to a grass verge on the side of a hill. Below the masses of rocks and boulders was a river. On closer inspection, it seemed like a very long way down. I did not want to risk being killed in a fall, but the odds were against us. It was either go downhill, or back to the now growing convoy of cars.
Antoine pointed in the direction of the slipway, and like animals, we crawled towards it. Silently, the pair of us moved across the tarmac that stopped inches from the grass. He gently pushed me over the edge, and followed, keeping a firm look out. To the far left, a black hummer approached. The group of men standing around soon stood at attention.
The vehicle came to a stop on the other side of the checkpoint. Its doors opened, and two larger-than-life men got out. They scanned the area before one of them moved back to the vehicle, and opened the rear passenger door. I could not believe my eyes when out stepped the same hunched-over silhouette I had seen when I had been taken to the Shadow World.
Xavier.
Holy shit! He had been behind this whole kidnap thing. I knew it when I heard his name spoken by the man in the car, and seeing him here brought it home to me. I really had to get away from here.
Xavier pointed to the direction of the car, and panic set in. I knew it would be only minutes before they realised I had gone, and then the hunt would be on. This was not how I had imagined my place of sanctuary to be. Then again, when all things were considered, it made quite a change from running from Alex and Atarah.
Antoine held me close to him as he shielded me from view. I lowered myself further down the face of the embankment, and finally began the decent down to the riverbank. I did not look up once. I kept on moving, concentrating on my footing, making sure I made no noise.
Not too far behind me, Antoine lowered himself down. His movements and his control were much more elegant than mine, and he seemed to make effortless progress, whereas I stumbled, and cut myself more often than actually accomplishing anything.
As we approached the lower end of the embankment, I heard yells, confused shouting, and then all hell broke loose. From the ridge of the slipway, two men looked down at us, and pointed. They watched as I finally made solid ground, and hid behind a thorn bush. Antoine, on the other hand, stood up, and bowed like some actor at the end of a theatrical performance. He turned, and smiled at me, winking as he pulled out the gun, and fired a shot into the air.
“Jesus, are you like frigging crazy?” I yelled at him as I tried to shelter myself from the now growing audience.
“What’s life without a little entertainment?” he asked as he brushed grass and grit from his clothes.
“Err . . . I think I’d prefer something a little low key for once.”
“Yes, I’m sure you would, but, dear little Giselle, I’m not one for sitting in and reading, although I do find that entertaining. However, as you can see . . .” He pointed to the men clambering downhill, heading straight for me. “I thrive on these kinds of situations.”
From both of his hands, I could see a glow building up to form full-blown balls of flames. He held them effortlessly in each hand, and with a devilish twinkle in his eye, he laughed and shouted, “Showtime!” as he threw the flames at the dry grass.
Within seconds, the flames had engulfed the entire embankment. The inferno spread uphill quickly. I smiled as I watched the men retreat back up the hill, and found myself looking at Xavier. His face was just as I had imagined it to be. He was old and ugly. His eyes were hollow holes in his head. He was truly death himself.
I stood close to Antoine, trying to avert my gaze from the horrific apparition at the top of the embankment. “So? What now?” I asked, scratching the back of my head.
“Now, sweet Princess, we run.”
Without any hesitation, I took his hand, and we ran along the river bank, ducking under the overgrowth of the trees, running further and further into the dense forest as the fixed stare of Xavier’s eyes faded, and all that was left was Antoine, myself, and my unborn child.
What seemed like an eternity were actually only minutes. Out of breath, I stopped running, and panted as a stitch attacked my side. Antoine smiled at me as he stood by a tree, and placed his back up against it. He was immaculate. There were no signs of sweat on his brow, while I, quite the opposite, looked a mess. My hair stuck to my chin as I tried to get back some of the breath I had lost in our run.
“We can’t hide here all day, you know,” Antoine remarked as he took a swig out of a small tin canister.
“Yeah . . . Just give me a minute,” I panted.
He looked back in the direction we had come, and raised an eyebrow.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I dare say things are going to get pretty messy.”
“What do you mean?”
“They’re close, Giselle. We cannot outrun them, but if I were to, say, do this.” He clasped his hands together, and muttered something under his breath. The ground around us began to shake. From a distance, I could hear the screams and shouts of the men hunting us.
“What was that?” I wondered, amused.
“That was a little something I picked up from Bylun. The old man is quite the master of destruction,” he laughed.
“Right, so . . . what do we do now? Obviously, we can’t stay here. Where do we go?”
He walked over to me, and placed his hands on either side of my head. He looked deep into my eyes, and I saw a flicker of something I had seen in Leonid. He smiled at me before he kissed me on my nose.
The area around me began to spin. Dizziness interrupted my concentration, and left my head reeling from the speed with which we spun. I could barely hear him when he spoke softly, his voice echoed in my mind as I drifted off to a world far from there.
“Now, sweet Princess, you sleep.”
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, I’d like to thank my wonderful husband Sean who has encouraged me endlessly on this journey and has proven time and time again just how much he is my knight in shining armor. There are of course my beautiful children – for whom my dreams know no bounds and I do all this for them. My mother and father for their dedication and support, who knew that one day I would see my dreams realized – I love you. My two sisters who have been a constant source of honesty and love – thank you.
My wonderful team of beta readers: Summer, Mary, Jessica B, Jessica S, Trudy & Joy – you are a true blessing.
My wonderful editor, Nancy Medina who has worked her magic – you are amazing lady. And last but not least, you my wonderful readers. You are the reason I am still here. Thank you!
About Julieanne Lynch
Julieanne was born and raised in Northern Ireland. She currently resides there with her husband and five children, where she works on her Shadows World novels and other series full-time. Before becoming a writer, she considered a few different career paths, a rock star being one of them. She studied English Literature and Creative Writing at The Open University, and considered journalism as a career path. However, she decided writing was the way for her and is thankful for each day she lives her dream.
Julieanne’s YA series, the Shadow World novels, so far contains Within the Shadows & Escaping Shadows, the third instalment, Fighting Shadows is being written. It follows the war between vampires and shadow creatures. Giselle Bergman, an 18-year old human girl who falls victim to a scheme by one of her closest childhood friends, and embarks on a journey that sees her become the center of a battle between good and evil.
Other books by this author
Please visit your favorite ebook retailer to discover other books by Julieanne Lynch:
The Shadow World Series
Within the Shadows
Escaping Shadows
Fighting Shadows (coming 2015)
The Loralee Quinn Mysteries
The Taken
The Storm (coming 2015)
The Rage (coming 2016)
The Rose Chronicles
Stone Cold (coming 2015)
Bitter Kisses
An Early Winter
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