Paradox - Progeny Of Innocence (bk2) (Paradox series) (28 page)

"My shoes, Grace," Clair repeated.

"Yes Clair. We will try to find your shoes."

Zach picked Clair up and put her on the stretcher.

"I can walk," she said, trying to push herself up off the stretcher.

"No you can't. And if you try, you will faint. Now lie down," the ambulance officer said in a warm, Irish accent. "You've lost a lot of blood, and you need to let us take care of you," he said pushing her gently back down.

While everyone was focused on Clair, Grace slipped out the door and merged with the crowd outside.

The pretty female medical officer with the smooth chocolate-brown skin said, "Are we ready to go, Sammy?"

"We are. Let's go take care of Miss Clair, shall we," he said, pushing the gurney through the open door.

"Come on, move aside, let them pass," Ambrosia said to the crowd of curious onlookers gathering outside in the hall. She reached out and touched the female medic as she guided the other end of the gurney. "Thank you, Lucina," she said, "for everything."

Lucina nodded. "You're welcome," she replied before being swallowed up by the inquisitive crowd.

Riley rushed into the room with his sister Holly directly behind him. "Where's Grace?" he asked, looking desperately around the room.

Everyone looked at Joshua, and then scanned the room looking for Angela.

"I have no idea," Joshua said. "Grace was here a moment ago. And the last time I saw Angela was when we were dancing. Then the storm happened and everyone went running in all directions." He ran his fingers through his damp hair. "I assumed Angela had gone to find Grace. And when Grace turned up here, I figured Angela wouldn't be too far behind."

"I'm here," Angela said, pushing through the doorway. "But I have no idea where Grace is."

* * *

"Well, what an eventful evening," Abaddon said, sitting down next to Theria and wiping his mouth on a handkerchief. "I had quite forgotten how wild these humans become when you deplete them of a little blood. Not to mention their souls." He traced his fingers down the side of Theria's face, and she pushed them away.

"Not here, people will talk. And it isn't normal that they are going crazy so quickly. It usually takes a lot longer," she said standing up. "Someone is on a rampage, and we don't know who."

"Well, who cares about that, plenty to go around if you ask me. And since when has that ever bothered you, the age difference?" he said, resting his back against the table.

"The age difference here is frowned upon."

"Again, since when would that ever have bothered you? You need to lighten up, dear sister." He stood, held up his arms and turned. "Look around you. It's like walking among an orchard of succulent ripe fruit, just waiting to be plucked."

"And who's going to clean up the rotting fruit on the ground once it's been discarded, you? I wouldn't imagine so," Theria scoffed.

"I say pluck away, and let the bones fall where they may."

She glared at him, and that was all he needed to read her. "Oh sister, and here I was thinking you were worried about discarded fruit… but no. You're jealous of
Lyssa
," he chuckled. "You really shouldn't worry your pretty little head about that."

Theria began to open her mouth.

"Don't waste your time. You know there is no point lying to me." He stood, circling her. "I take it Caleb isn't taking care of your needs these days, now that he has replaced you with a human girl." He put a finger to his lips and frowned. "That does remind me of… let's see… oh, yes. I remember now, Cerberus and Pandora!"

Theria snarled at him.

"Careful, my dear, your teeth are showing, and I imagine that is frowned upon here, too… Why don't you do yourself a favor and go pluck something. It will really do you the world of good," he said, stalking away to help a young teacher struggling with a heavy box. "Let me help you with that," he said politely. "Where is your dear husband when you need him?" he asked, shaking his head in mock exasperation.

"Oh, I'm not married," she said.

"A boyfriend, then?"

"Single," she answered, blushing.

"Well, that is a crime, isn't it?" he said, giving her a sideways glance and an irresistible grin. "And may I say that you smell absolutely divine." Her human scent,  quietly engaging, fueled his insatiable hunger.

She smiled. "It's
Beautiful
," she said, giving him the name of the perfume she was wearing.

"It most certainly is," he agreed.

* * *

Grace was standing looking out over the ocean when he approached her silently from behind. Her blue gown billowed out around her in the brisk breeze, still cool from the recent rain. She turned when she sensed him approaching.

"Damon," she said in an even tone. Her face was lovely, so peaceful, and so serene in the moonlight, which surprised him after what she had just witnessed. A bolt of lightning snaked through the sky, chased by an angry grumble of thunder.

"Grace," he said as he continued to walk toward her. "You must have a million questions about what happened here tonight."

She shook her head. "Why would you think that?"

He looked at her and frowned. "Now I'm confused…"

She tilted her head to one side. "Kiss me," she said, as she held out a hand toward him. A giant wave crashed on the cliff face below, spraying up a surge of seawater.

He took her hand, kissed it, and then pulled her close against his chest. He held her there for a moment to savor the closeness of her body touching his, then he stepped back a fraction and eased her face toward his. He lowered his mouth slowly to her lips and kissed her with heartfelt passion. She did not close her eyes when he kissed her. Then suddenly, he pulled away. "Grace?" he asked, looking confused.

She shook her head slowly. "Try again," she said raising an eyebrow.

"Juliette?" he breathed and I smiled…

You have just finished reading book 2 in the Paradox Series. Progeny Of Innocence.

I would be extremely honored if you would leave a review for me. Patti Roberts.

http://goo.gl/LU2obe

Book 3 in the Paradox Series.

"I have loved and lost in so many different ways. And I have died endless deaths… So when I ask myself the question today, who am I? My answer is…I do not know."

Juliette.

Grace is on the verge of discovering her true identity, her ancient origins, and the girl behind the mask, called Juliette, who haunts her dreams. Since her earliest childhood, visions have constantly forced her to relive the lives and deaths of so many others. She learns that those around her are more than they appear - but who is good and who is evil? Trapped precariously between two worlds, how can she possibly fight an enemy that is stronger, faster? An enemy that hides in plain sight, waiting. She can run, but she cannot hide forever…

New World – Darwin 2009

"Run!" A girl's voice screamed into the night, breaking the spell of Damon's kiss and tearing me away from his embrace.

However, it wasn't the warning from the blonde-haired girl standing rigid with bow in hand, preparing to shoot, that alerted Damon to the danger, but the guttural sound resonating from the throat of the advancing beast.

He swung around, pushing me behind him, and then crouched, preparing for the attacking beast. The menacing sound reverberating from Damon's lips made me shudder. In the eyes of any mortal, boy and beast were both adept instruments of death, each in his own lethal way.

"Run!" the girl shouted again over the crashing waves below as she swiftly pulled an arrow taut in her bow until her fingers rested gently against her cheek. Then she took aim, released her fingers, and let the arrow fly toward the black predator leaping high into the air. The arrow, true to its target, pierced the skull of the animal dead centre between its yellow eyes, felling the rancid-smelling beast with a heavy thud at Damon's feet. Immediately, as if on cue, with lips pulled back over a row of razor-sharp fangs, another beast leapt forward, taking its place.

The blonde girl released another arrow, sending it flying through the air. It struck the beast solidly in its hindquarters. The beast howled, whipped its massive head around, seized the quivering shaft between its fangs, and pulled the arrow, coated with blood and sinew, effortlessly from its flesh with one quick flick of its head.

The animal, although wounded, stayed true to its trajectory: Damon and Grace.

Its enormous paws drummed the earth as the beast powered forward at an alarming pace. Then suddenly it leapt into the air, long claws protruding from its paws, ready for its lethal impact.

The girl shot another arrow, bringing the beast down. "Get her out of here, now!" she yelled at Damon, as a bolt of lightning crackled through the black sky, charging it with electricity. "I can take care of this. Go!" she yelled, as she aimed and released another arrow. She shot another, then another, as other beasts leapt out of the shadows cast by the walls at the rear of the two-storey school building.

Damon nodded and called back, "Holly, are you sure you can do this?"

"Yes, go!" she shouted again, pulling another arrow taut in her bow.

Damon grabbed my hand and swiftly spun me around - and we ran... The escalating storm whipped the beautiful long gown around my legs – Grace's legs. I fell, but Damon pulled me to my feet as though my body were weightless. Muddy puddles of water, from the earlier storm, splashed up my legs as I ran, soiling the skirt of the gown.

I could smell the foul breath of the beast as it thundered behind us along the dark cliff face. I could feel Grace's heart pumping in my chest as I clung to Damon's hand. Another wave crashed, spraying us with a mist of salty seawater. I hung on with all of my strength, onto this body - Grace's body.

Although I could feel Grace fighting me with all of her strength, I was stronger, faster than she. And at this moment, even with Grace's surging fear, I was not afraid. Not here, not now. I had been preparing for this for a very long time.

"Are you okay?" Damon shouted, his voice trailing off into the mounting storm. I nodded. Inside, I sensed Grace shaking her head, her eyes wide and frantic, brimming with tears. I tried to subdue her, telling her that everything would be okay if she would just let go, close her eyes, and pretend to sleep. Even if she didn't know it, didn't trust me, she needed me to take care of her…

"Just a bit further," Damon said, indicating a spot just up ahead. "The rocks begin to fall away just beyond that tree. If we jump out far enough we will miss the rocks and land on the beach below. Can you do it?"

'Nooo!'
I heard Grace's panicked voice as it rang out in my mind, deafening me momentarily until all I could hear was her voice
. 'I can't do it. The cliff's too high. Please don't do this… you'll kill me!'
I could feel her fist beating against me from the inside in a vain attempt to escape this insanity. '
It's just a dream
,' I whispered to her silently. '
Go back to sleep.'

"Are you ready?" he shouted as we neared the sheer drop of the cliff face.

I spun my head around. The beast was only seconds behind us, leaving us no choice but to jump.

"Yes!" I replied as I felt Grace hold her breath and grip Damon's hand even tighter. She uttered a prayer, '
God help me,'
and then whispered, '
I love you
.' She squeezed her eyes shut, leaving me blind.

I felt nothingness beneath my feet as we jumped hand in hand, propelling our bodies out into the dark void. Had we jumped out far enough to miss the rocks? I couldn't tell. I felt Grace's human body prepare for the fatal impact as every muscle tensed, leaving me with one thought – that I had failed yet again. I felt the quickening pulse of electricity crackle through Grace's veins, and then her eyelids shot open, giving me sight once again. '
Thank you
,' I said silently, praising her.

For a few precious moments, as though frozen in time, we appeared to float, suspended by an invisible thread from the heavens. All at once my hearing became amplified, allowing me to hear the most miniscule of sounds all around me – a twang, the flutter of a bird's wing in flight, a sizzling disturbance in the air currents. Grace's breath – a thud, the cracking sound of bones being broken. Then the hissing sound of air escaping from a punctured lung as one of Holly's arrows tore through the ribcage of the ravenous beast.

A gush of putrid smelling blood and saliva spewed from between the animal's fangs as it opened its mouth and exhaled one last breath. Then its lifeless body, contorted by death, crashed to the rocky outcrop below. A bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, severed the invisible thread that had kept us suspended and we fell. Alarmed at how fast the earth below rushed up towards us, I turned and looked at Damon, searching for answers, but he just smiled, unaffected by our foreseeable death on the sharp rocks below.

I saw then, with absolute certainty, that we had not jumped far enough out from the cliff face. The white sandy beach, which would have cushioned our fall, was still too far away to offer us any refuge from our pending fate.

Had I been wrong to put my trust in Damon? Had this been his plan all along, to sacrifice Grace's life in a bid to take me from this place?

Grace, sensing our looming predicament, inhaled a sharp breath then screamed, blocking out the sounds from the thunderous claps of thunder and the smashing waves that crashed violently all around us - just Grace's scream, exploding in my mind and the sensation of the salty damp air on my skin as we plummeted earthward toward a certain death - Grace's death.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this book in the Paradox series. Perhaps you would be kind enough to leave a review.

http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Progeny-Innocence-Patti-Roberts-ebook/dp/B006H1U8QM/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2

You can buy the next book in the series, Paradox – Bound By Blood.

http://www.amazon.com/Paradox-Bound-Blood-Patti-Roberts-ebook/dp/B009U73GUA/ref=pd_sim_kstore_2