Coyle and Fang: Curse of Shadows (Coyle and Fang Adventure Series Book 1) Robert III (first color ebook reader txt) 📖

landing, where peaceful, fluffy clouds touched the peaceful, blue sky. Before they left, the men give brief instructions to those staying behind. Quolo’s eyes grew heavy, but he watched them fade away into the dark before wiping drool from his wet mouth.

Chapter 25

Upper passenger decks

Dawn’s Edge

Conroy knew his way around the ship, and the journey to the lower holds was short. Coyle’s fears were dampened by his company and the knowledge that they would be at the main hangar in a few minutes. The prospect of rejoining her team gave her strength and a hope that things were coming together.

She remembered the two flaming, spinning pods flying through the air, both carrying living people. For the briefest of moments, she allowed herself hope Poes hadn’t been in one of those pods.

“Thank you so much,” Coyle said. “I would have been lost up there.”

“My pleasure, miss,” he said. “I’m sure you would have found the hangar eventually.”

“I’m afraid not,” she said. “Not in the dark, anyway.”

“Looks like you found your way through a lot already, didn’t you?”

She smiled. “I guess I did.”

“What do you do for a living?”

“I was a constable in San Francisco.”

“That sounds tough. You know, my Aunt Rebecca cut her hair and joined the front lines at Gettysburg,” he said. “That’s what I heard, anyway.”

“And how’s your aunt?” she asked.

“She did fine until she was on the wrong side of Pickett’s Charge.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Coyle said.

“Thank you. Just because you were born differently doesn’t mean you can’t get what you want,” he said with a tight smile. “You made it this far. I hope you get whatever it is you’re after.”

She nodded. She hoped for the same thing, of course. This mission in the sky wasn’t what she wanted. It was only a stepping-stone toward becoming a detective—and even that was just another stepping-stone on her path to bringing Ronan to justice.

They had just stepped into the lush, familiar passenger decks when she heard noises.

“Stop,” Conroy said. “Do you hear that?”

“Sounds like a loud party.” Coyle squinted.

“Only there’s no laughter.” Conroy stepped forward into the wide hallway. Long, thin windows lined the wall, and sunlight poured into the dark. “Are they dancing?”

Coyle listened. Sounds of movement were in the rooms beyond. She couldn’t tell if they were dancing or marching or...

“Running,” Coyle said. “They’re running.”

“It’s getting closer,” Conroy said. They stood together and stared down the hallway.

Doors slammed open. The shouts and screams made her blood go cold.

“They’re... they’re covered in blood!” Conroy pointed.

Coyle pulled out her sidearm. The weapon gave her small comfort as the crowd ran toward them.

“Shouldn’t we run as well?” Conroy asked.

“Not yet,” she shouted. “We need to know who our adversaries are and hopefully stop them.”

Men, women, and children rushed past them up the stairs, through open doors, down hallways, anywhere there was an opening. One woman grabbed Coyle, screaming for help, before she ran away with terror in her eyes. The woman had deep, bleeding gouges across her back.

Someone shouted for her gun. She pulled away. Chaos ensued. People swarmed around her, knocking her down. Conroy shouted. Hands grabbed at her from every direction, but she held on to the weapon. And then other noises filled her with dread: shrieking, snarling, howling.

The crowd shrieked. Coyle’s arm was punched and her fingers pried apart until the gun was yanked out of her grip. She pulled herself away. Screams filled the air.

Six shots were fired in rapid succession before the gun was made useless. But the screams, the snarling, and the growling only grew louder. Fear took hold of her mind, and ice water flashed through her nerves. She was weaponless and next to useless now. And, for the hundredth time that day, it seemed she wouldn’t make it out of this alive.

Chapter 26

Upper passenger decks

Dawn’s Edge

The crowd swarmed through halls like a school of fish, running upstairs, downstairs, through ballrooms and kitchens. They had no certain direction; they wandered for mere survival. And Poes ran with them.

The Turned were biting at their heels, and no amount of running seemed to matter. Poes kept his hands on the back of an older woman, guiding and persuading her to keep moving, not daring to glance behind at the snarls and howling.

They were less than a hundred strong, and the ghouls had no trouble thinning them out. People lost their footing, or turned down a seemingly empty passage only to find the Turned waiting to devour them.

A new commotion erupted from somewhere near the front. He happened to eye a large ballroom nearby when he heard shouts of a gun. His hand quickly shot to his hip and made sure it wasn’t his. Within moments, gunfire echoed through the huge hall, making everyone duck. Bullets raced over their heads and into the Turned. And just as quickly, the firing stopped. People poured themselves into adjoining doorways and stairwells when his arm was grabbed. He turned.

“Coyle!” he shouted.

“Poes! We need to get out of here!” she said.

“I thought you were gone forever,” he said.

“The pods? I feared you were gone too,” she said. Poes noticed a rush of color in her cheeks.

He looked around and shoved her into the main ballroom. “Through here. We have to find a way back to the hangar. Quickly!”

They ran together through the chaos of rushing people. A creature slammed into a woman, howling with evil delight. Poes leapt out of the way as another creature grabbed a young man and sank its teeth into his neck. Coyle was knocked to the side, stumbling until she crashed into a table.

Poes finally looked behind, shrinking back. The Turned were everywhere. The closest one followed after Coyle and leapt. They crashed into a table with the vicious beast on top of her. She grabbed a broken table leg, smashing it across its head. It roared, bleeding from its new wound across its eyes. Its long arms held her down, rearing back its head full of jagged teeth and—

Poes shot it through the