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midnight.”
    â€œSo there will be more? Than this?” Adrenaline and fear heated her blood, making her skin tingle. To hide the anxiety and terror threatening to choke her, she pulled her cop persona around her like a cloak. “We have to help them.”
    â€œIt’s too late, Shanna. One sword in an army of Dark Breed isn’t going to make a difference.”
    She didn’t know what the beasts were doing to the people they descended upon, but the screams of agony tearing through the streets were enough to keep Shanna frozen. Part of her was grateful she couldn’t see clearly. She hated herself for her fear, wanted to move, to pull some to safety. But her feet wouldn’t obey.
    â€œThey’re being . . . being . . .”
    â€œEaten.”
    The word was so final and yet so matter-of-fact, all Shanna could do was bury her face in the grass and weep.
    Zach wanted to give her time to adjust, to try and get a grip on what was happening, but it wouldn’t be long before their secluded brush started filling with people looking to hide. A crowd would draw unwanted attention. Attention that could get Shanna killed.
    â€œWe gotta go.” He helped her to her feet, but before they could move, a dark figure rushed by, and the stench that wafted off it wasn’t human. Zach grabbed Shanna’s hand and dragged her back into the shadows behind a tree. He pulled the shotgun from the weapons bag, loaded it, and pressed it into her hands. “Stay here. If anything comes near you, shoot.”
    He gripped her shoulders, shaking her slightly to snap her out of her stupor and make her remember she was cop. “Do you understand me?”
    When she nodded, he pressed a quick kiss to her lips, pulled his sword from its sheath, and raced after the Dark Breed. The Leech descended on a woman and pinned her to the ground. It lowered its filthy head toward her face as the woman screamed and thrashed unsuccessfully to get away. Zach kicked out, sending the mud-encrusted creature rolling into the road.
    He yanked the woman to her feet. “Run!” he ordered, never taking his eyes off the demon.
    The sword pulsed in his hand, as if sensing the danger and welcoming it. He tightened his grip on the hilt and slowly backed up. Leeches rarely fought alone. He didn’t want to find this one’s friends. Lucky for him, though, Leeches were incapable of rational thought. Driven solely by hunger, it raced at Zach, ignoring the sword that he raised and lowered, directly into the bastard’s gut. He slipped the weapon out, then sliced it across the Leech’s neck, the head rolling beneath the bush behind it.
    The sword cleansed itself as he raced back to Shanna. She was lying flat on her belly beside the tree, using the shotgun to slow Dark Breeds chasing a group of people a few yards away.
    He grabbed her hand, pulling her to her feet, and as they made their way to the safer back roads, he finished off the injured Dark Breeds.
    â€œYou all right?” he asked, scanning the streets as they went.
    â€œYeah. I think I’m fine.”
    And judging by the stubborn lift of her chin, she looked determined to stay that way. It was a good sign. It meant she was shaking off disbelief and returning to the fighter he’d once fallen in love with. The fighter he still cared for more than he was willing to admit.

 
    Chapter Seven
    9:02 p.m.
    2 hours and 58 minutes before the fall . . .
    Z ach led Shanna a mile or so down the road to a CVS where the parking lot was half full of cars begging to be borrowed. The store, like most of the other buildings in the area, was completely vacant. After rummaging through the upturned shelves for a couple of bottles of water and bags of chips, they went in search of yet another mode of transportation to get them the rest of the way to St. Augustine.
    He zeroed in on a dark SUV in the next row of cars, hoping his hot-wiring skills