Born of Shadow - Book 1 (complete)

Chapter 40

As the two crept away from the darkened police station, Kami was grateful for a full moon. The light cast enough of a glow that they could see. She could feel the danger looming over them. If they were caught, it would all be over. She shuddered to think of being attacked by one of those shadow creatures, or having her body sucked dry. Ibrahim's dead body flashed before her eyes, and she stumbled.

Liam steadied her, asking her with his eyes if she was okay. She nodded. They walked briskly until they made it to the SUV. Yasmin sat inside with Haji. They breathed a sigh of relief when Kami and Liam climbed inside.

"Only one more," Yasmin said.

A minute passed, then another, then another.

"Any time now," Kami murmured. Her eyes fixated on the door, willing Chris to open it.

Another minute passed, then another.

Where was he? He should be out by now. How long had it been since he'd passed the journal through the window? Eight, nine, ten minutes? She couldn't imagine what could possibly be holding him up. She bit a nail nervously, then stopped herself. She'd promised herself she'd quit the bad habit, but the stress of this trip was getting to her.

Something was wrong. Something had to be wrong or Chris would be out by now.

Several lights suddenly flashed on. They could see the shadowed outlines of rushing prison guards. She imagined the pandemonium, the shouting voices, the rough hands hauling Chris into a cell for questioning.

"Better go, Haji," Liam said urgently.

Haji pulled away from the curb and pressed on the gas.

"Wait!" Kami cried. "The door opened. It's Chris. Pull over."

Just as Haji made it to the curb, Chris shot past them. Two police officers were on his heels, and more were pouring out of the building. Kami could feel her heart pounding wildly. Her hands trembled.

"Go, go, go!" she urged.

Haji was already on the move. He punched the gas and followed Chris and his pursuers. Chris tripped over the steps, sprawling to the ground. One of the police officers was on him in an instant. He grabbed his shirt and hauled him into the air.

"We have to help him," Yasmin said.

But before they could, Chris kicked the officer in the groin. The man doubled over in pain and Chris twisted from his grasp, leaving his outer shirt in the man's hands. He turned the corner down a dark alley with the second officer in close pursuit.

With a squeal of tires, Haji drove around the building to the point where the alleyway intersected with the next street. Haji stopped, and Yasmin opened the door. They could see Chris's determined face as he emerged from the alleyway. He ran for the car and dove into the backseat just as the second officer caught up with him. It looked like he'd made it. Half of his body was inside the car when, suddenly, he was being pulled back, his hands slipping over the slick leather seats.

Kami and Yasmin each grabbed one of Chris's arms and pulled hard. Chris kicked his legs and thrashed his lower body. Finally, Chris's pursuer fell back with a groan.

Chris scrambled into the car and slammed the door as Haji peeled away. He flopped against the seat, taking deep shuddering breaths. His shirt was torn, and his hair was a mess. One of his shoes was missing. The officer must have yanked it off.

"What happened?" Yasmin asked.

It took a few moments before he could speak between his heavy breathing. "I don't know. Somehow they figured out I was in there. Someone raised the alarm. I hid, then escaped after they ran past me."

They sped away through dark alleys and winding streets. Kami lost all sense of direction and was grateful it was Haji driving and not her. When convinced no one was following them, Haji let out a sigh of relief.

"You are lucky, Chris," Yasmin said soberly. "If you had been caught, who knows what they would have done."

"I know."

"During the revolution," Yasmin continued, "men and boys in prison were shot by police. They were killed like animals in cages. The police tried to cover it up by painting over bullet holes and delaying evidence. I have friends who are still waiting for trials for their dead. Husbands, brothers, and uncles were all betrayed by those who were supposed to be enforcing their protection. The people were so furious by police corruption that they burned police stations all over Egypt. Over ninety of them were torched."

Yasmin shut her mouth abruptly and leaned her head against the window. Kami looked at her, feeling her cousin's pain but feeling helpless to do anything about it. She put her hand in Yasmin's and gently squeezed.

"My best friend is in prison under false charges," Haji said quietly. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel. Haji didn't seem to want to talk about it, so no one asked. The ride back was made in sober silence.

When they made it back to Samuel's compound, they tried to snatch precious hours of rest before dawn. Kami didn't think she could sleep after all that had happened, but weariness soon overtook her. Morning came too quickly, but she was glad for the reprieve. She walked into the kitchen area where the others were munching on whatever they could scrounge up in Samuel's cupboards.

"This is ridiculous," Yasmin complained as she bit into a stale potato chip. "We need to stock up on supplies before we go anywhere. We won't stand a chance fighting these creatures if we're starving to death."

They all turned as Samuel entered, lugging two large bags.

"I hope there's food in there," she said.

"I suppose you could eat it, but it wouldn't be too tasty," he said as he dumped a pile of flashlights on the ground. "It wasn't easy to find this many. I cleaned out three different stores. Don't even get me started on the lasers. I'm not sure if I have enough, but it will have to do. What are you all sitting around like couch potatoes for? The day is young. We have work to do. Where's Chris? He needs to show us how to make these."

"He's outside," Yasmin said. "I will get him."

Samuel fiddled with one of the flashlights, turning it on and off, on and off. He set the flashlight in the pile with the others. He reached for another flashlight, and Kami noticed a nasty blistering mark on his wrist. He seemed to sense her gaze and shook the cuff of his shirt over it.

"We can get started," said Liam. "How hard can it be? Don't you just duct tape the lasers to the torch?"

"Right. A shadow creature lunges for you and you think you'd have the time to turn on each laser individually? Christopher wired it so one switch lights the whole thing."

"Brilliant," Liam said.

"What's up, Samuel?" Chris asked as he entered the room with Yasmin.

"Time to get ready for a fight," he said, tossing him a flashlight. 

_____________

Please click that little star if you enjoyed this!

As a reminder, you have until Tuesday Aug. 19th to sign up for a free paperback copy of Born of Shadow on my Facebook page. I will ship internationally. To enter, go to http://facebook.com/sarahbensonbooks and click on the Giveaway tab at the top. You can also click on the link in my message board.

I would like to dedicate the chapter to a dear Wattpad buddy - the lovely @nmmorton! We have been reading each others stories for quite awhile now and I have so enjoyed getting to know her. If you want to treat yourself to a sweet Christian romance, do yourself a favor and check out "An Unexpected Love" by clicking on the dedication link above. Thanks Nikki!