Chasing Shadows (A Shadow Chronicles Novel) Read Online Free Page B

scent of a human, and relaxing, I started forward again.
    Given the oddity of my sister visiting me out of the blue (even if Diarmid had been the one to send her), I shouldn‘t have been surprised by the feeling I got as I drew closer. My gift for sensing the presence of another supernatural being worked at a fair distance, but because I had smelled human, I had assumed human. As I was pushing the wheelbarrow back into the barn my visitor was getting out of a late-model Dodge truck, and I found myself suddenly engulfed with the feeling of an immortality that wasn’t my own. Because it was so unexpected, I started looking around to see if there was someone else I had missed. But then I realized it was coming from the guy who was slowly striding toward me.
    And then I was struck with two more sudden realizations: I was about to meet my first immortal human…and he was, quite literally, the man of my dreams.
    I stood frozen in place as he walked into the barn, stopping just inside where he didn’t have to squint. “Ms. Caldwell?”
    I gave myself a hard mental shake and forced my feet to move forward, recalling the ominous words of the psychic when I had asked her when I would finally meet the man I had been dreaming about: “ Fate will bring you together when you need each other the most .” I was suddenly frightened, and damn it, I didn’t scare easy. If Mark Singleton was the man who would complete me, then his coming here on the very day my sister said our father wanted me to find the betrayer of vampire kind could only mean one thing:
    Trouble was coming.
    “Are you Mark Singleton?” I heard my voice say, proud that at least one part of my brain was functioning correctly. Not only was I suddenly afraid that Mark and I were in for a very bumpy ride, I could feel my body buzzing as I drew nearer to him. Every nerve ending was on fire, every inch of my skin ached for the touch that to me was already as familiar as breathing. With an effort, I kept my fangs retracted and forced the sudden image of our bodies twined together in my bed from my mind, plastering a smile on my face because Mark was beginning to look a little perplexed. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was acting strangely, or if it was possible he was feeling some sort of effect of being near me. After all, we were bondmates—was he supposed to be feeling something, too?
    My visitor nodded slowly, and I suddenly noticed he had what I could only think of as a military bearing. He was standing ramrod straight and his eyes were on me, but he seemed to be drinking in every single detail of his surroundings. He had also maneuvered himself so that he   could clearly see out both open ends of the barn. “Yes ma’am, I’m Mark Singleton,” he answered.
    Breathe , I reminded myself, extending my right hand. “I’m Saphrona Caldwell, Mr. Singleton. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Finally , I added silently. God knows I’ve waited long enough .
    Mark shook my hand with a firm grip, and I liked that he didn’t make it all soft just because I was a girl, like some men did. I returned it enthusiastically. “So what made you decide to answer my ad, Mr. Singleton?” I asked, doing my best to ignore the electrical current that had raced up my arm when our hands touched.
    “To be honest with you, ma’am, I really need a job,” he answered sincerely. “I’ve been out of the Corps over a year, ‘ cause I needed the time, but I need to get back to earning a living. And I need to get out of my parents’ house.”
    The last he said with a grin, so I returned it with a smile of my own. “The Corps? You mean the Marines?” I asked.
    He nodded. “Yes ma’am. Spent the last twelve years with the United States Marine Corps—well, eleven of the last twelve years. Straight outta high school.”
    I raised an eyebrow. “I see. So tell me, Mr. Singleton, just what does a man with eleven years of dedicated military service know about farming?”
    Mark laughed.