CHAPTER 1

The night was perfect. Probably forty-five degrees and barely a need for my gloves.

The moon hanging overhead was a clear, bright disc with no clouds to block it. I smiled to myself as I jogged over to the reservoir.

I had made half a circuit around that placid artificial
lake when I started to realize something strange. New York never slept, the park was open until well past midnight, and yet I had not run into a single person since I entered the grounds.

“That’s strange,” I murmured quietly.

Where is everyone?  

I ran on, keeping an eye out for any other people. Still
nothing…a solid mile and a half that, except for me, was completely deserted.
The wind had died, and the reservoir’s water was as still as black glass under
the moon. A dog barked in the distance, and I could hear traffic noises and the
high wail of a police siren. But the park itself was as static as a painting. Even the crickets were silent.

About then, I noticed something strange on the dormant grass at the edge of the path. It was an irregular splotch, darker than the rest, the shape vaguely humanoid. As I slowly jogged past it, I realized it was a singed patch on the grass—as if someone’s shadow had been burned into the lawn.

I was puzzling over it when a shock went through me. I’m being watched. The gut feeling made the hair on the back of my neck stand
on end. My breath quickened. I stumbled to a stop and started looking around, trying to pinpoint the cause of this strange, hunted feeling. I saw nothing. But the feeling was getting worse by the second.

Get out of here. Get out of the park.

I could see a gate entrance between the trees a block
away, and I made for it, breaking into a sprint. Whatever was going on in
Central Park tonight, I wanted nothing to do with it.

I was ten paces from the gate when a shaft of hard white light broke over me like a spotlight. It felt like being hit with a sledgehammer. My muscles locked, and instead of falling, I was yanked upward
suddenly, my feet leaving the ground.

For a moment, I stared helplessly out at the darkened, deserted park, smelling the dead grass burning under me, my heart pounding in my ears. Help, I thought, mind all but blank with terror. Someone
help me. But I couldn’t speak.

Then the light tore me into pieces.

USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR Sedona Venez writes diverse romance stories with small-town shifters and protective alien warriors. She lives the NYC life with her former military hubby—hooah—and her adorable fur baby. Her characters break boundaries to find true love, conquer fear, and they sacrifice everything for their happily-ever-after.

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