Read Eternal Dawn for Free Online Page B

I mean
it’s not official or anything, but I’m with Tracy.’
    ‘No, you dimwit, I don’t want to date you.’
    ‘Why the hell not?’
    ‘Come on, road buddy,’ I said, and led him away from the beach and back towards the Wickham gates. He stopped me by touching my shoulder.
    ‘Beach is the other way,’ he said.
    Damn it. Being close to Wickham was more important than going near that beach. I was just going to have to get straight to the point. Tony believed in the supernatural. He told me so when we
first met. But that was a lifetime ago.
    ‘So . . . are you ever gonna talk or are you just gonna look like you’re working out a calculus problem?’
    I threw him my ‘Tony, you’re an idiot’ look, but he didn’t recognize it. I hadn’t been able to give him that look in
so
long.
    ‘All right. Here goes. This might seem weird,’ I said, ‘but do you ever feel that perhaps there’s more to the world? Like ghosts or werewolves?’ I started with the
simplest question I could muster.
    Tony leaned a hand against the stone wall. ‘Is this because I’m studying the stars? Because I don’t really believe in astrology.’
    An unnaturally cool wind rustled the branches above us, shaking some of the leaves to the ground.
    As usual, Tony’s hat was on backwards. He must have seen how serious I was because he frowned and said, ‘What do you mean? Ghosts or werewolves? Be specific.’
    ‘Well, both actually. Perhaps there are, um . . .’ I fished for something viable, a gateway to the conversation I really wanted to have. ‘Ghosts, shape-shifters,
vampires
, you know, things like that. Supernatural creatures.’
    ‘Yeah, I guess. I haven’t really thought about it.’
    ‘But you think it’s possible.’
    ‘Sure,’ he said, frowning again. ‘Is this really what you wanted to talk about?’
    The wind whipped again, icier this time. Oh no. A sudden chill or drop in temperature was usually a sign that very powerful magic was being performed close by. We were in the middle of Lovers
Bay Main Street. Down the opposite end, away from the shops and cafe, the beach met a small parking lot.
    The wind blew again and a branch snapped. I pulled Tony towards me just in time; the bough fell directly where he had been standing. Wide trees lined each side of Main Street and their great
branches made a tunnel of leaves. We would have to stay in the centre of the road. I glanced back at the Lovers Bay pub and the small figures standing outside. I could barely make out their
silhouettes.
    We were alone.
    ‘What the hell?’ Tony said, looking up at the tree in disbelief. ‘Good reflexes, Lenah.’
    Something moved down near the beach. I squinted. Was it . . . fog? I gasped. I hated being right.
    ‘What?’ Tony asked.
    Liquorice-coloured clouds unfurled over the ground. The clouds slithered with purpose. As they moved, the light from one street lamp was extinguished.
    And then another.
    Each light clicked off as the cloud crawled over the ground towards Tony and me.
    I grabbed the front of Tony’s shirt. ‘Climb over the stone wall,’ I said. ‘Go. Now.’
    ‘What?’
    ‘I said, go!’ Tony didn’t budge.
    ‘What is that?’ he asked, squinting down the dark street. My hand was still gripping his shirt.
    ‘Run,’ I pulled Tony hard. ‘Run!’ I cried.
    The clouds swirled over and over like a wave rolling backwards. It was protecting something, shielding an object at its centre.
    That strange black cloud grew even bigger until in seconds it was the size of a modern car. It was ushering someone forward, someone who hovered deep within those midnight fibres of cloud.
    ‘Yeah . . .’ Tony said. He finally registered just how serious this had become. ‘Yeah, let’s run.’
    He grabbed my hand and we ran. We needed to get to people. To crowds.
    We only made it a few feet before we had to stop short.
    Two male vampires jumped over the stone wall and on to Main Street. They immediately corralled us, blocking