Read Online Tempted by the Night by Colleen Gleason - Free Book Online Page A

anything or banging her foot against the metal floor or wall.
    â€œI heard someone over here,” came a voice from outside. Stronger, very certain, and much too close. And it sounded horribly familiar.
    Luke and Marisa stilled for a moment, bodies close enough to feel the other’s unsteady breathing, and waited. She was cold and stiff, her stomach jolting unpleasantly.
    â€œThey went this way,” replied a voice recognizable as Ian Marck’s. “We’ll find them.”
    â€œLet’s go,” Luke breathed ever so softly into her ear. Prickles accompanied the warmth of his voice. “Okay?”
    She nodded once, her head bumping his chin. Better to put distance between them and the—what did he call them? The snoot.
    Marisa had been through the tunnel only once before, and in the daylight, and then under the guidance of her father. But she knew the path, she just had to avoid—
    Ugh. It was all she could do to keep from gasping when something bounded over her foot, brushing past her leg and streaking (but fortunately not slithering) away.
    Luke squeezed her hand as if to say, “Steady,” and she continued on, holding her glasses in place just in case. Cobwebs and dust stirred, indicating that few, if any others, knew about this escape route. She stepped on something crunchy, then something soft and oozing that made her stomach lurch—and then lurch again when the foul stench reached her nose.
    But she navigated to the corner of the car where the side door was. There was a low ridge around it to mark the spot, and she easily found the metal ring that opened it. With her hands and a very few soft words, she explained what had to be done.
    Then, together, they pulled open the heavy door slowly, silently, carefully, even as the sound of the bounty hunters’ continued search made its way through the walls of the train car.
    Things went more easily after that, for they found themselves outside the boxcar—where illumination from the night sky helped light the way—and then navigated along the tunnel that ran through the wall.
    The voices of the snoot had become more distant, but the sounds of the zombies were unhappily drawing nearer. The huge oak tree loomed just outside the wall, and its wide-spreading branches scraped the dark blue sky, brushing the stars and moon.
    Something moved there, high among the branches. An owl? A wild cat?
    Marisa stopped along side the old truck that acted as the last part of the passageway. “Climb through here, and that’s it. We’re outside.” She reached for the door handle and pulled on it gingerly, but it was soundless. Someone kept it well oiled.
    â€œWait.” Luke pulled her hand back and looked down at her. “You’ve brought me this far—there’s no reason you need to go out there too. No reason for you to put yourself in that sort of danger.”
    â€œWhat’s so important you need to go out there, then?”
    Their voices were still very low, and they stood in the middle of the deep barrier surrounded by old vehicles, pieces of metal sheeting, and other junk piled carefully in a strong protective fence. The moon shone down from above, but the walls rose to at least ten feet high on either side. They were safely hidden…for now.
    â€œI…well, Marisa…I haven’t been completely honest about—”
    It was all she could do to keep her outraged reaction to something less than a shout. Clamping her teeth together, she glared up at him and gave him punctuating shoves in his oh-so-solid chest. “Why—am—I—not—surprised! Have you been honest about anything ?”
    â€œOkay, look,” he whispered, lifting his hands. “It’s not what you think. And I’m trying—it’s just a little complicated, and dangerous. Marisa, what I’m involved in is really…it’s dangerous.”
    â€œI’m getting that,” she