Read Rhyannon Byrd - Primal Instinct 04 for Free Online

Jamie’s neck from a black velvet cord, resting against the fuzzy pink
heart on the front of her pajamas. It was incredibly beautiful, etched with
tiny intricate symbols that covered every inch of its dark, metallic surface.
“Are you serious? That’s one of the ancient Markers?”
    He nodded, saying, “We just found this one earlier
today,” before turning back toward Jamie. He lifted her tiny chin with one
tattooed finger. “Whatever you do, honey, do not take that off, okay? It’s
magic and it’s going to keep you safe. You can even feel its magic when you
touch it because it’ll be warm against your skin. Why don’t you try it?”
    Jamie looked down at the Marker and grabbed hold of
it, then stared back up at Aiden. “It’s pwetty.”
    “Yeah, but not as pretty as you,” he told her,
ruffling her curls. “Now, promise me you won’t take it off. No matter what
happens.”
    “Pwomise,” she whispered, gripping the cross tight
with both hands, as if she understood just how serious the danger was.
    “Good girl.” He grabbed his bag and shoved it onto the
floorboard, closed the door, then turned toward Olivia just as another series of
screeching howls echoed through the quiet night. “Shit,” he growled, glaring
toward the thick line of trees at the edge of the yard. “They’re too close.”
    “Too close for what?” she asked, worrying about the
neighbors waking up and coming out to investigate the strange noise.
    “There’s no way we’re going to make it out before they
get here. So we go with plan B,” he explained in a low voice, quickly moving
around the back of the car and ripping open the driver’s door.
    Following him, she stammered, “What on earth is p-plan
B?”
    “You drive, I’ll shoot.” He motioned for her to get
into the car, then shut her door and reached behind him. Olivia’s eyes went
wide as he pulled a heavy black handgun from behind his back, where it must
have been tucked into the waistband of his jeans, hidden beneath the hem of his
shirt.
    Silently chanting a mixture of curses and prayers,
Olivia quickly belted herself in while Aiden moved around to the passenger’s
side. He folded his long body inside the compact interior, then sent her a
strange look that would have been funny if she hadn’t been so terrified.
“Christ,” he muttered, “I feel like a friggin’ pretzel in this thing.”
    “Fwiggin’ pwetzel.” Jamie giggled from the backseat.
    Olivia glared at him and he winced, grumbling something
about small-ass cars quietly enough that Jamie couldn’t overhear him as he
moved the seat back as far as it would go.
    “So what happens if we m-make it out of here?” she
asked, her hands shaking even harder than her voice as she looked over her
shoulder and began reversing out of the driveway. At any moment Olivia expected
the monsters to come leaping out of the dark, and she fought to brace herself,
worried she was going to panic and steer the car straight into a tree, or one
of the neighboring houses.
    The gun clicked as he checked the clip, his voice
somehow confident and calm as he said, “I need to get you and Jamie to the
Watchmen compound in Colorado as soon as possible. It’s called Ravenswing and
it’s where I live. It’s also one of the safest places there is.”
    “We can’t fly there,” she told him, wondering how long
she and Jamie would need to stay at the compound. It seemed so bizarre, the
idea of living under the same roof with a group of strangers. Not to mention
with Aiden Shrader. “Jamie has an inner-ear condition that causes extreme pain
at the kind of high altitudes a plane flies. I’ve heard that there’s a new
medication for children her age that can help, but the prescriptions are just
about impossible to come by.”
    “That’s okay. Probably safer right now to stay on the
ground anyway, where we’re in control,” he murmured, making her wonder if he
didn’t care much for flying himself.
    Turning the wheel so that they