Read Rush of Darkness for Free Online Page B

friends, so there’s no need for you to get involved. I plan on handling this on my own. Then, when I’m done, I’ll make sure the Marker is returned to the Watchmen.”
    He slid a hard look toward the bodies that were still bleeding out on the street, rubbing a scarred hand over his mouth—and she knew the instant he thought he had it figured out, that dark green gaze whipping back to her face, sharp and bright. “Christ, he was one of the bastards from the compound, wasn’t he? One of the ones who raped you?”
    It was her turn to flinch in reaction, and he cursed something ugly and rough as he turned, stalked across the quiet street, then brutally punched his hand into a brick storefront. The violent blow instantly split the skin across his knuckles, the hot scent of his blood making her mouth water.
    The soldier’s harsh breaths filled the air and he lifted his arms, his head hanging forward as he braced his big hands against the dark bricks. “You’re going after the ones who hurt you.” The thick, guttural words weren’t a question. He believed he had it right. “How many are there?”
    She hadn’t meant to answer his question, or correct him, but she did. As if the words were being pulled from her against her will, she heard herself offering him aquiet explanation. “I’m going after the five who killed my sister. I’ve already killed one in Madrid. Carlson was meant to be the second. But now you’ve sent his shade back to Meridian.”
    He turned, propping his shoulders against the wall, his hands hanging loose at his sides as he locked that piercing gaze with hers. “Was he one of the ones who attacked you or not?”
    “It doesn’t matter,” she forced through her clenched teeth, shaking. “He killed Rietta. That’s all I care about.”
    For a moment he said nothing, simply holding her stare, and then he spoke in another soft, quiet rasp. “I know you suffered through hell in that place, Raine, but what you’re doing…” He flexed his hands at his sides, his expression grim. “It won’t change anything. Not for you, and not for your sister.”
    She could tell from his tone that he spoke from personal experience, but she didn’t ask for him to elaborate, knowing that the more distance she could keep between them, the better. She was already too drawn to him as it was.
    And she already had a good guess at the answer. After all, she knew he’d lost his family at the age of fifteen to a rogue nest of vampires. Surely that was the impetus for the killing spree he’d gone on afterward, slaughtering every Deschanel he could find, whether they were young or old.
    “It’s not just about revenge,” she told him. “When I’m done with the Casus, I’ll find Westmore, and I’ll find thethree Markers he has. It’s my fault he has two of them and I intend to get them back. Your friends won’t be able to get into Meridian without them.”
    Thanks to a journal that had been found in Westmore’s compound, they now knew that there were twelve Dark Markers in all. In order to keep them from falling into the wrong hands, the powerful crosses had been hidden in various locations all over the world. The Watchmen had been able to find eight of them, but Westmore had stolen one, and with Raine’s help he’d been able to find two more before the Watchmen could get their hands on them.
    “We only have two more to find,” the human rumbled, “and then we plan to go after Westmore and get the other three crosses. So it’s all going to be taken care of, Raine. This isn’t something you need to be involved in. No one blames you for what happened. Hell, they’d have all done the same thing.”
    “I doubt that,” she muttered, her stomach churning. “And it doesn’t matter. I’m the one who did it, and I’ll fix it. Just as soon as I’ve dealt with the ones who killed Rietta.”
    He moved away from the wall and toward the “host” body that Carlson had inhabited, nudging it over with a push