Spanish Nights by Valerie Twombly Page B

She strolled into the kitchen and stopped short.
    “Oh no! No. No.”
    Her laptop lay in pieces on the floor. She swallowed her fear and glanced around the room. Nothing else broken. The front door was closed and nothing else appeared missing.
    Her skin crawled with the feeling that someone was watching her.
    “Hello? W—Whose here?”
    No reply except a cold breeze that snaked across her and caused her skin to pebble. Her throat tightened like she hadn't drunk in days, she was so parched. She licked her lips.
    The cold wrapped around her again, but this time pain followed.
    She yelled out.
    Something warm trickled down her arm and she glanced where the pain was to find three deep scratches dripping blood. She slapped her hand over the wounds and headed for the sink, but was pushed by an invisible force.
    Kayla skidded across the tile floor straight into the kitchen knocking a chair over. The skin on her scalp went tight and an immense force jammed her head into the oak cabinet.
    Stars circled around her eyes and she could already feel the right side of her face swelling.
    She sucked in a breath through the pain. Stay awake, Kayla. Something told her if she passed out she might never wake up. Whatever attacked her was pissed. She wished she knew why. With one thought in mind, she pushed herself to her feet, her hands clutching the counter for support. Bile rose to the back of her throat and her breaths came so fast she feared hyperventilating.
    She scanned the room through hazy vision, but saw nothing.
    Time to make a run for it.
    Kayla sprinted to the bedroom. Her common sense said she should've headed for the front door, but her memories reminded her of Nana and the pendant she'd given her as a child. She could hear the elderly woman's voice telling her to run.
    She made it to the door when once again she was shoved with such force she flew across the room and landed in a heap in the corner. Through the fog in her head, an image formed in the doorway. A woman dressed in a black strapless top and a flimsy skirt flashed violet eyes at her. If Kayla hadn't been so beaten and frightened, she might have taken a moment to admire the female's beauty. Black, silky hair flowed down her back and intricate branching tattoos covered one side of her midriff.
    “You will die before you take him from me!” The woman screeched at her. Sparks shot from her fingertips
    Kayla trembled and wondered, if she closed her eyes and opened them again, would she wake up and find this had only been one helluva nightmare? She dared not try. Her mind focused on one thing.
    The pendant.
    It was located on the nightstand on the other side of the bed. She only needed to jump from the corner, across the bed and claim it.
    What if Nana was wrong? The old woman had been sharp as a tack until the day she died. She'd always told Kayla the pendant would help protect her, but there was a chant that went with using it and that came with a price.
    If she spoke the words, she'd not only send the intended into purgatory, she'd gain their power and lose her mortality. She had almost laughed out loud when she heard the story. The whole idea had been ludicrous but in her current situation she'd try anything. Trouble was, she didn't remember the words and the woman descended on her fast.
    Kayla sucked in a breath, focused on her prize and leapt for the bed. She heard a loud snap right before pain went shooting through her mid-section. She cried out as she landed on the bed, her muscles refusing to obey. She looked out of the corner of her eye. The woman had to be Cyndel. Who else would want to harm her?
    The woman moved closer. “Prepare to die. Human.”
    Kayla refused to give up. No way in hell she was letting this bitch win. The silver chain dangled over the edge of the nightstand. She willed her arm to stretch out in front of her and could hear the loud pops of electrical current behind her as her fingers made contact with the metal.
    She gritted her teeth