Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 1)

I turned away from it, slipping into a quiet side street. By now, the cops had got the word out about my escape along with a description.

And if they found me…

4

Carrow

I ducked my head to let the hood fall over my face and stuck close to the brick wall as I walked. Hiding while suspected of murder was hard. Especially in London. Whole place was lousy with cameras.

And for some reason, it was nearly impossible to find Winslow Street. I’d seen it on the maps app on my mobile, but whenever I turned down a street that should lead to it, I couldn’t seem to find the damned thing.

Frustration surged within me.

What the hell was happening?

I wasn’t bad with maps—the opposite, in fact. I had a damned good sense of direction. And I couldn’t find freaking Winslow Street. The sun had risen higher in the sky as I’d wandered around, and my stomach growled.

I didn’t have time to eat, but I was starting to get shaky. The Mars bar I’d eaten had been hours ago.

The scent of flaky pastry crust and coffee wafted down the street, and I turned toward it, moving with the determined stride of a bloodhound.

A yellow sign gleamed above a little shop set into the wall.

The Pasty Company of Cornwall.

It was a famous chain, and not the best around, but right now, I was hungry enough to eat a shoe. There was no one in line when I hurried up to the counter and ordered a steak pasty and coffee. It wasn’t exactly breakfast food, but it would hold me over the longest, and that’s what I needed.

Within minutes, I had my pasty and coffee. I winced at the price, then handed over the money and left. With my head bent low, I found a nook and ate, my mind racing.

As I stood there, a sense of something began to tug at me.

I shoved the last bite of pasty in my mouth and frowned around it.

What the hell was that feeling?

Winslow Street.

Somehow, I could sense it.

Instinct made me turn right, heading down the road. Another right, and I found myself staring at a street sign.

“It was here all along?” I blurted the words, not caring if it was weird.

No matter how hard I’d tried with my mobile’s map, I hadn’t been able to find it. But now…here it was.

Confusion flickered as I leaned against the brick wall and kept my face down. The warm coffee in my hand anchored me as I tried to figure things out. Why the hell had I been able to find this place by feeling instead of a map?

I came up empty.

Across the street, a broad bank of dingy windows revealed a store that seemed to sell nothing but toilet roll. It was easily the most boring store I’d ever seen. Worse, there was no Haunted Hound pub on the small street that I could see, but I couldn’t just leave.

I could feel it.

There was a small alley next to the shop, but it was filled with rubbish bins and looked creepy.

Still, it called to me.

What the hell was going on?