Read Online Nightfall by Ellen Connor - Free Book Online

and he’d hot-wired the ham radio he used for his broadcasts. That had Mason thinking zoological knowledge and technical know-how. Maybe even cold-weather survival skills to complement his own.
    Welsh also had a stockpile of food. About four hours into the show, he’d narrated a list of provisions at the station. They would need every scrap of those supplies to survive the winter.
    Edna moaned, the wounded animal in the corner. Her skin had taken on a gray sheen, almost silver with the way she sweated. Not much longer now.
    Mason stalked from the tiny kitchen to switch off the radio. Fatigued eyes looked up at him from where they’d scattered around the fireplace.
    â€œEnough,” he said. “It’s time for the hard news.”
    The ever-present sneer on Tru’s face seemed designed to rankle anyone old enough to vote. “You get off on ordering people around?”
    â€œAnd you get off on carving up your arms. We all have our ways of coping.”
    Tru paled. A good guess, but Mason regretted the hasty slam. Shithead or not, he was still just a kid. With the whole world in chaos, the adults in the cabin were all he had left to rebel against.
    â€œI have something to show all of you,” he went on, returning to the kitchen.
    Jenna watched him with impassive eyes and said nothing as he opened every cabinet—the full extent of their supplies laid bare.
    He crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. “I equipped this cabin with provisions enough to sustain two people through the winter.”
    â€œCozy,” Tru muttered.
    â€œTwo people, kid—not seven.”
    One by one, the adults and even Tru glanced to where Edna rested half-conscious on the floor. Okay, six people.
    â€œWhen the snow comes, we’ll be trapped here,” Mason said. “There won’t be any game to hunt because all the animals have fled.”
    â€œThat’s true.” Angela glanced to where her daughter lay curled with her teddy bear, always checking to see if her daughter would be scared by harsh facts. But Penny seemed more interested in the world behind her deep blue eyes.
    â€œI noticed it too.” Jenna moved next to him, spreading an unfamiliar tingle along his skin.
    â€œSo no fresh game,” Mason said. “We can’t sustain our numbers here.”
    â€œWe could chew on beefy boy.” Tru hooked a thumb at Robert.
    Mason ignored him. “I’d hoped the snow would be here by now, because the demon dogs don’t do well in the cold. But at this point, it’s to our advantage that the weather’s held.”
    Bob stood up and stretched. “How do you know about the dogs?”
    â€œI just do.”
    â€œShow him. All of them.” Jenna touched between his shoulder blades and sent a shiver down his backbone. “That’s how you got these, right?”
    An image flashed in his mind. A lamb. And fangs lunging for its neck.
    Jenna flinched and yanked her hand away. For long moments, they stared at each other. Pupils dilated, her unblinking scrutiny dug into his bone marrow. Her nostrils flared like a predator catching the scent of its next meal. And Mason wanted to kiss her. Nothing to do with romance or even desire. No, the kiss his body needed was deep and primal, the kind that led straight to sex.
    She shook her head, looking as dazed as he felt. “Take off your shirt, Mason.”
    That wasn’t going to help, but he obeyed her quiet command. With one quick jerk of cotton, his T-shirt lay on the ground. He stood facing Jenna and the kitchen, his back to the others. He heard their gasps, distant somehow, as Jenna’s gaze moved over his bare chest like a touch. He couldn’t move or speak or breathe. She traced every inch of skin, her expression predatory.
    If she didn’t stop looking at him like that, he was going to make unconventional use of the kitchen counter, no matter who watched. Need and power hammered in