Read Refuge Book 1 - Night of the Blood Sky for Free Online Page B

crowds might think it was part of the show. Lasers or something.
    But there was something else nagging at her, something different that she couldn’t quite put a finger on, until she did. She turned her head toward the black and red sky. The full moon at its core warbled in and out of view. “Griff,” she said, tugging on his shirt. “The moon. When we entered the station, it was still on the horizon.”
    He craned his head back, looking up. His shoulders dropped the way a man’s does when he’s been defeated by life. He whispered a curse and turned to Frost. “It wasn’t full, either.”

 
     
    8
     
    Rebecca Rule stood dumbfounded, staring up at the sky above the church like she’d seen the good Lord himself perched atop the steeple. The red sky would have been strange on its own, but the way it coincided with the ringing bell and the wavering air suggested all three phenomena were part of the same strange event.
    She didn’t want to fuel Dodge’s belief that the Devil was involved, but she couldn’t deny the event smacked of the supernatural. What else could turn the night sky blood red and send a church bell into a fevered spasm?
    “Sheriff,” Cash said quietly, as though speaking any louder would bring about the apocalypse. “Laurie’s working at the diner tonight.”
    His body language was apologetic, but urgent. She could tell he was going to leave no matter what, but he was being polite about it. “Go.”
    “If you need me,” he said, taking a step back.
    She nodded. “You’ll be at the diner or your place.”
    “Or Laurie’s,” he added. “You know how she gets.”
    Rule knew very well. At least thirty percent of their calls came from Laurie Whittemore, Cash’s younger sister. A stiff breeze could send the girl into a panic. She’d only ever had one serious man in her life, Henry Something from Concord, but he only lasted six months on account of how frequently she woke him up at night, claiming someone was in the house. Rule had gotten to know Henry pretty well during those months. Saw him a few days a week, and then not at all. Poor Laurie , Rule thought. Being a nice gal just isn’t enough when you have the emotional constitution of an abused chinchilla.
    “Anyone you see on the way or at the diner,” Rule said, “You tell ’em to go home. Nothing bad is happening. We’re taking care of it.”
    Cash glanced up at the now silent church steeple, his eyes communicating that he knew better, that none of them really knew what was happening.
    “You don’t have to believe it,” she added. “Just tell ’em.”
    “Will do, Sheriff,” Cash said, and began jogging to his pickup truck.
    “Sheriff,” Walter said. He had the same look on his face as Cash, but he didn’t have a sister in town. Or a wife. Or kids. The Brick House was his family, and right now, it was unattended.
    “Go ahead,” she said, and waved him away.
    “My phone’s not working,” someone said, taking Rule’s attention away from Walter. She dug into her too-tight pocket, pulled out her phone and switched it on. The screen worked fine, but her usual three-bar status showed a circle with a line through it.
    No signal.
    She tried her radio next. There was a brief, high-pitched squeal and then silence. “Frost, this is Rule. Can you hear me?”
    “Oh my God,” came Frost’s reply. “Do you see this?”
    “Where are you?” Rule asked.
    “Station steps.”
    Rule turned toward the station. She could see Frost and Griffin standing on the front steps. Frost gave an urgent wave, while Griffin kept his eyes on the shifting sky. She toggled the radio. “Listen, our job isn’t to figure out what happened; it’s to keep people safe.” She glanced at Dodge. “People are going to take this all sorts of ways, and we need to make sure no one causes any trouble. Understood?”
    “Copy that,” Frost said, her voice calm and back to business. She was a good officer, and Rule secretly hoped Frost could one day reign