The Whispering Dead (Gravekeeper #1) - Darcy Coates Page 0,70

couldn’t answer. Instead, she raised her flashlight and turned it on.

Dane Crispin’s eyes shone like an animal’s in the light.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Keira parted her lips, but her mouth was too dry to speak. Dane Crispin stood in their path, twenty feet away, his thin face appearing bleached white in her flashlight beam, his eyes glittering from behind the curtain of wet hair. Then he shifted. Something long and metallic rose into the light’s circle.

“Run!” Keira cried, pushing her companions toward the woods. They broke into a dash, splitting around the wild man, stumbling over and through the bushes. The rifle cracked, loud enough to ring in Keira’s ears. She flinched, but Dane’s aim had been wide.

“Back to town,” she called, praying that both of her friends would hear and understand her. “Get inside a house. I’ll find you later.”

“What—” Mason started, but Keira speared off before he could stop her. She heard him call her name but didn’t look back before plunging into the forest.

Keira’s flashlight was the only light in the dark night. She let her feet hit the ground heavily and slapped her arms through the branches as she ran, making as much noise as she could. It worked. Dane’s footfalls were loud as he hunted after her.

Another gunshot. Keira tucked her head low and lengthened her strides to put more distance between them. It would be hard for Dane to hit her while they were running, but it wasn’t impossible either.

She turned right, leading Dane away from the town. The thick forest made running difficult; branches caught on her clothes and scratched at her face. The scarf became a liability—a potential noose around her neck—so she pulled it over her head and discarded it.

Lightning cracked. Its glow flashed through the forest, submerging the vegetation in the surreal light and temporarily blinding Keira. She gasped as she misjudged her footing and stumbled over a branch. The rain made the leaves slippery. She skidded down an incline. Her ankle twisted on the uneven surface. Hot pain shot through her leg. She bit back a scream and curled into a ball as she landed. The flashlight painted a halo of light on the leaves above, so she turned it off and let the inky black night surround her.

Hide, her instincts said. She huddled as small as she could and breathed through her mouth. Her quick pace had put her well ahead of Dane; if she was lucky, he would continue to barrel through the woods blindly. She could wait until he was well gone, then creep back to town.

To her horror, the pounding footsteps slowed to a careful walk. He was angry, but not enraged enough to be careless.

He saw your light go off. He knows where you are. You can’t stay here.

The rain continued to pour on the forest ceiling. Its drum was just loud enough to drown out the crunch of leaves as Keira rolled onto her hands and knees. Her ankle felt as though it were on fire. She tried rotating it and was relieved when it moved. The sprain was bad, though, and trying to run again would risk fracturing it.

I can’t stay here. I can’t run. I guess the only option left is to creep.

She rose into a crouch and began threading her way through the trees. Each step was like a knife through her foot, but she shoved the pain as far back in her mind as she could and closed a door on it. All she focused on was moving as quietly as possible until she was out of Dane’s path. The rain dripping through the boughs was heavy and cold; she doubted Dane would spend more than an hour looking for her, and as long as she remained quiet and kept her flashlight off, the only way he could find her would be to physically bump into her.

Something clicked, and suddenly, the woods filled with light. Keira flattened herself behind a tree, her heart thundering. She wasn’t the only one who’d brought a flashlight.

The beam sliced through the dark as it panned across the forest. It skimmed over the tree that shielded her and continued to move.

Damn it. Hiding was no longer an option; the forest was dense, but not dense enough to conceal her when Dane had a light. Keira lowered her body and slunk between two trees. As she moved, she tried to stay aware of what shapes would block her from his sights or give her cover. It was harder