Deep Within The Shadows (The Superstition Series Book 1) by Teresa Reasor

just went to get his motorcycle so he can take me home.”
    All six of the students’ identical expressions of surprise made her smile. Staid Ms. Templeton riding on a motorcycle was pretty much a stretch.
    “He’ll be right back.” Please let him be right back. Please let him be okay. She returned to her seat to cover the fact that she was trembling. Maybe this was just a shared delusion. But how could two sane, responsible people share a hallucination? And why could they see the creatures when no one else seemed to?
    What made them different from the other people in the restaurant?
    She looked at her reflection in the napkin dispenser. She and Caleb had something important in common. Had it triggered this creature? Was it here to punish them? Or had someone sent it after one of them?
    All of this smelled of magic. And she’d left hers behind. Could she reach for it again? And would it do any good at all against such a creature?
    And how the hell was she supposed to use it with Caleb watching?
    *     *     *
    Caleb jogged around the corner. He scanned the street ahead, his eyes moving warily from one cluster of shadows to the next. So far so good. When he reached the block where his garage was located, he broke from a jog into a run. The night-lights cast a golden glow over the interior of the office and the three mechanic’s bays. Nothing moved.
    He scrambled for the key, shoved it into the lock, and entered the shop. He raised the garage doors and muscled the bike outside, then lowered the door. In seconds, he’d secured the garage, gathered his helmet and a spare, and straddled the Harley. He shoved the spare helmet down on the back seat support, and then fired up the engine.

Chapter 6

    J uliet woke to an odor that burned her nose and stole her breath. It smelled like someone had lit a match, but concentrated to the point of suffocation. What was that smell? Had she instinctively triggered a fire while being choked? She coughed and fought her way clear of the darkness. What had happened? Her thoughts seemed muddled and slow, and breathing through her damaged throat was an agony of effort.
    Gray. Her heart gave one hard thump. Someone…some thing had been choking her. And Samuel had helped her. It had to be him. No one else had been there. She forced her eyes open. She yelped in fear as a gray creature came into focus. It lunged against the circle of light only six inches from her face. She jerked further back into the shadow cast by the nearby storefront.
    She rolled away onto her knees. The world spun, and she closed her eyes to stop the sickening rotation. She opened them and forced herself to look at the thing. It was like a shadow, but it had bulk, and it had no eyes. Fear hit her like a slap, and tears streaked down her face. This couldn’t be happening. She was dreaming.
    Samuel. Where was he? She looked across the uneven disk projected onto the ground by the streetlight. He was lying on his back, his head turned away. Was he still alive?
    Juliet staggered to her feet, almost too dizzy to stand. Every inch of her body hurt, her throat and chest the most. Every breath was an agony. The creature inside the circle of light lunged and snapped. She stumbled away from it. It bounced back, as if the darkness formed an invisible, impenetrable wall between them.
    Samuel lay on his back, his arms outstretched. As she got closer to him, she could see his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, but his skin looked gray. He was fading fast.
    Black spots danced in front of her eyes, and she fell to her knees beside him and braced her hands on the concrete, her scraped palms sending sparks of pain up her arms. She gripped Samuel’s arm and shook him. “Samuel Newton, wake up.” Her voice was less than a whisper, not enough to drag him from unconsciousness. His arm stayed limp, and he remained unresponsive.
    Juliet looked around for her purse and flinched as soon as she moved her head. She was hurt,