Fated Triad: Shadows of the Forbidden Moon

Ariel's POV

I began to answer, but the words stopped in my throat as the warehouse echoed with a tremendous blast. We stopped and turned toward the noise. Someone else was here, someone who should not have been. Lucas snarled, grabbed a revolver from his waistband, then turned toward the sound.

Though I wanted to interrupt him and say this was a dumb idea, fear held me silent and my feet stuck to the ground. Lucas disappeared into the night, and his footsteps lost resonance.

Every second seemed to linger a lifetime, the silence almost excruciating. My heart hammering in my ears, I battled to hear anything. I then caught it: a low, threatening growl then a strong thump. I hardly gave it any thought. I only rushed.

My mind whirling, my feet banged against the concrete as I raced toward the disturbance. Lucas was in danger, and I could not just watch and say nothing.

But as I arrived at the intersection, I stopped cold.

Lucas slumped unconscious on the ground, blood splashing around his head. Over him stood a black man hiding his face under a hood.

I insisted, "Who are you?" trying to keep a cool head under pressure.

The man answered not at all. He was totally riveted on Lucas's unmoving body. Then he turned without notice and started sprinting for the exit.

I halted just slightly before racing after him. My pulse surged and I battled to see where I was going as I trailed the black shadow across the warehouse. Not after what he did to Lucas, though, I cannot let him escape.

We burst into the free air, the heavens starry. Though the man moved fast, I was resolved. Closing the space between us, the effort burning in my lungs drove me harder.

But I reached out to grab him and he swung around pushing something hard and steely against my chest. I lurched backward, groaned in pain as it passed through me.

"Stay out of this, Alan," the visitor warned in a low, menacing voice. "You are managing something very different.

He turned and vanished into the night before I could respond, leaving me clutching my chest as the suffering tore across my body.

My eyes whirled as I staggered to understand what had just transpired, collapsing to my knees. Someone did it. But why would he have adopted Lucas's manner?

My legs shaking, I forced myself to get to stand as the pain passed. I turned back to the warehouse. I had to find Lucas and get him out of here before things turned considerably bad.

But Lucas disappeared when I returned to the spot he had fallen from. The only sign he had been there was the blood on the floor.

As the reality of the matter hit in, my heart thumped in my chest. Lucas was dead or missing; whoever had taken him was still on sight waiting.

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And I went straight after that.

My mind reeling, I staggered out of the warehouse. I owed Ariel a warning. I had to protect her from all that was on route. But when I went for my phone, my hands were shaking so badly I dropped it; the gadget clattering to the ground. A message burned on the screen. As I worked through the words, my heart dropped.

"It's too late," Alan said. Her protection is not yours.The /

I staggered to get the phone and began to get terrified. I must phone Ariel before it is too late. But when I phoned her, the line dropped.

Again, the phone slid from my hands; but, this time I paid no heed to getting it back. I stood there staring at the black screen while a thousand ideas shot across my head.

I had slipped. None of Ariel, Lucas, nor even myself had I been able to protect. And just now everything was dissolving.

Still, I could not give up. Not just now either. Not when Ariel's life rested on a knife edge.

Walking back and forth in my living room, the evening was eerily silent all around me. Anxiety and fear twisted about my head. Something felt exactly terrible. Alan has lately been acting strangely-distant, inattentive. He brushed me away with some evasive reason every time I tried to talk to him. He then disappeared.

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I looked at the twelve thirty AM clock. Years ago, he should have gone home hours early. When I tried to contact his phone and it went straight to voicemail, my growing unease got worse. He was on what?

As I thought back on our most recent conversation, a cold shudder passed down my spine. He had been so nervous; his eyes seemed to be flying about the room as though he were hunting. I knew differently, but he insisted everything was fine. Though he did not say it, I could see the horror in his eyes.

Questions racing in my thoughts, I sank into the couch. Was he under legal hot pursuit? Washe suffering? Was there anything else he left off telling me? I felt absolutely helpless, and my heart broke with sympathy.

As I was about to attempt ringing him once more, I heard something outside. My heart stopped, then I got up to look out the window. The street was dark; the tiny streetlamp at the corner lit only that. Nothing out of the usual; no indication of Alan; no strange vehicle-nothing.

Then I heard it once more a faint rustling like that of someone outdoors. I stopped momentarily then reached for my phone and started toward the door. My heart beating in my chest, I opened it gently and headed into the cool night air. "Alan??" I gently phoned, slightly shaking in voice. I heard only the wind whispering the tree leaves. Staring into the night, I ventured a few apprehensive steps ahead.

From the corner of my eye, a shadow moved. Breath catching in my throat, I froze to figure out what it was. But a hand clamped around my arm pulled me back into the house before I could react.

I gasped, spun around to find out who it was, but the man was black. Panic surged through me as I tried to disengage; however, the hold on my arm grew stronger.

I sobbed, then a gloved hand closed over my mouth to silence me.

Quiet, a low muttered voice in my ear. "I am not here to damage you."