Dark Awakening by Kendra Leigh Castle

wanted to say to her, whatever help he wanted, Lily needed to walk away from it now, on her own terms. Because all of her instincts were telling her that to stand here any longer was to invite madness.
    She’d spent too long building walls against such things to let it in now.
    “I’m leaving now, Tynan. If that really is your name,” Lily said. “If you try anything, I’ll set off the alarm. If you try to contact me again, I’ll call the cops. Find somebody else to fixate on. I can’t help you.”
    His dark brows drew together as she backed toward her car, not stopping now. Her heart still thundered in her ears, but she tried to keep her breathing steady, tried not to stumble.
    “Lily,” he began, his voice full of warning, and she knew she was going to have to push that button after all. But just as she felt the comforting bulk of her car against her back and began to grasp frantically for the door handle, Tynan’s head snapped to the side, almost as though he’d heard someone calling his name. The movement was so abrupt, so unexpected, that even Lily paused for a moment to see what he had heard. Whatever it was, he didn’t like it.
    “Bloody hell.”
    When he looked at her again, the change in him was stunning. Lily felt a scream welling in her throat, trapped only because the look on his face had stolen her breath completely away. His eyes were as bright as the moon, filled with unholy light. His lips were peeled back in a feral snarl over teeth that glinted long and sharp. He looked like a—
    “Go home. Now,” he said, his posture tense, waiting, as though bracing for an attack—or preparing to launch one. “Lock the doors and windows. Let no one in. I’ll meet you there.”
    She stared, astounded at the instructions. What kind of fool did he think she was?
    “You actually think I’m going to—”
    “I think you’ll do as I say if you want to survive, Lily Quinn. There are far worse things stalking the night than me, and it seems I’m not the only one who’s found you. If you want to live, do as I say. Go home. Now. And don’t even think about running to anyone else, unless you want to be responsible for losing them.”
    Her legs trembled beneath her, even as her fingers wrapped around the door handle. She couldn’t contain her sob of relief as she managed to pull it partway open. She turned, nearly falling to the pavement in her haste to get in. She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t think at all, really. There was only Tynan’s voice, his terrible words, ringing in her ears. And coupled with everything she’d seen, everything she’d felt, they rang horrifically true.
    The night had thickened around her to the point where any movement felt as though she were pushing through water. Even the lights, normally so bright, seemed to have gone dull and dim. As she threw herself into the car, shaking so badly she could barely disentangle herself from her bag enough to get the door shut, a low, menacing noise was vibrating through the darkness.
    Growling.
    She finally got the door shut. Lily slammed the key into the ignition and turned it, hearing her own shaking moan as the engine started only distantly, as though someoneelse were running her body and she was only an observer. She threw the car into drive, gripping the wheel so hard her hands ached. And still she couldn’t stop herself from looking one last time at the man—the creature—who had just laid out a choice between letting him into her life or dying at the hands of who knew what. Probably something like him.
    He had hunched his back, reminding her of a cat giving its last warning before attacking. His head was turned as he looked somewhere off to the side of her, out toward the athletic fields. And he was so still he might have been made of stone. But he must have sensed her gaze on him, because, although his eyes never left whatever he was tracking, he spoke, and the word he snarled was so loud he might have been in the car with