Without Mercy (Mercy 1)
Page 151
With a sense of urgency pushing her, Shay hurried forward, across the lawn, under an awning and around the corner of the admin building. She eyed Stanton House and the area around the gym and cafeteria, scoping out the area, hoping to dodge the idiot nerd patrols. She just didn’t want to have to explain herself to Missy Albright or that freak show of a teacher, Flannagan.
Nothing.
She was alone.
She let out a breath and took two steps forward.
Crunch!
Hell! She froze. Was that a footstep? Where?
Her heart trip-hammered.
She inched her way to the side of a building and tried to calm down near a snow-draped rhododendron. Slowly, noiselessly, she turned, her eyes sweeping the serene white landscape. Everything was so still, eerily peaceful, the wind that had screamed through the canyons silenced, the icy pellets of snow that had stung her cheeks for days no longer.
The campus was empty.
Not one person around.
Not even a security patrol making rounds.
Nonetheless, her nerves tightened, the muscles in the back of her neck stiffening. She felt someone observing her; unseen eyes watching her every move.
Stop it! Don’t fall for any of the paranoia going around! Just get to Jules. Find out what the hell she’s got planned, how she intends to get you out of this freakoid school!
She started forward.
Crunch!
That was definitely a footstep.
Damn!
Instinctively, she whirled, snow kicking up behind her as she fell into a crouch, her muscles tense and ready, all her martial arts training clicking in. If she had to, she would attack.
She caught a glimpse of someone by the dorm.
The hairs on the back of her neck raised.
This was it!
The person looked her way.
Nell Cousineau?
The ninny was standing alone, shivering by the side of the dorm.
Seriously?
“Shaylee?” Nell said, spying her, relief evident in her small face. The girl’s teeth were chattering loudly, her breath a cloud.
What a moron! Nell wasn’t even wearing a ski coat, just some kind of flimsy flannel jacket.
“Shhh!” Shay hissed.
“Can you help me?” Nell said, moving closer.
“What?” This was the last thing Shay needed.