1305 & 1306 The Oracle & the Vampire (The 13th Floor) by Christine Rains Read Free Book Online Page B

needed the crone to find her granddaughter. “No. I wouldn’t dare, Grandmother. I need you as alert as you can be. We need to find Harriet.”

CHAPTER 9
     
    “You let Harriet come to work in this part of town? This is one of the worst suburbs in Carmine.” Kiral pressed Harriet against a brick wall, his body in front of hers, as another round of gunshots exploded from not so far away.
    She scowled. “It’s not as if I can tell her where and for whom she can work. She has her own mind.” She pushed him away with her free hand once the gunfire ended. “Besides, this was once a very good neighborhood. Some of the original owners still live here. Good people that need my—Harriet’s help.”
    Harriet wondered if she started to refer to herself as Harriet if he would even notice. She was beginning to feel he was treating her as a means to an end. All he wanted to do was get to Harriet and make sure she was safe. So hurry it up, Grandmother. Let me carry you, Grandmother. Are you sure you still want to go on, Grandmother? She was going to make sure no one called her that ever again after tonight.
    “She’d listen to you if you told her not to come here. It really is safer that way.” Kiral scanned the area and then motioned for them to carry on. “You need to look out for her better.”
    Stomping a foot, Harriet folded her arms. Who did this guy think he was? He never knew “Harriet” existed until that morning. “Listen to me, laddie.” Great, now she was sounding like her grandma. “You know nothing about Harriet. Don’t you pretend to be looking out for her when you’ve met her all of once, and even then, you ran off and left her cold and alone in a stairwell.”
    She’d been lying there in bliss, but she didn’t add that.
    Kiral’s gaze lowered. Running his hands through his hair, he paced and shook his head. “It’s not like that. I know how it looked. You can’t imagine how terrible I felt for doing so. But …” He stopped and groaned, crouching down, but still not looking at her. “I had to get away from her. To stop myself from drinking her dry. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I’d killed her. She was just so … I can’t describe it.”
    Harriet’s anger dissolved under his confession. His earnestness softened her face and made her heart beat a little faster. He’d left her because he didn’t want to kill her. His compassion won against his blood lust. She really wanted to hug him.
    “Try to.” Her hands clutched the shotgun until her knuckles whitened.
    Kiral sat on the ground, hands still in his hair. He glanced at her as he spoke. “I have a problem. One that I’ve been trying very hard to keep under control. And I’ve been doing pretty well. I haven’t … I haven’t taken from a drugged human in nearly three years. It was bad before. Really bad. But I haven’t harmed anyone.” He shook his head.
    “Harriet. She—” He was suddenly standing with his hands on her shoulders. “She knew me for what I was and didn’t run. She offered herself. I didn’t mesmerize her. She gave herself to me.”
    “I know.” Harriet didn’t flinch and locked her gaze with his. Her heart jumped into her throat.
    “She’s the most beautiful, gentle, kindest woman I have ever known.” Kiral’s voice grew soft.  “She helps care for you and all her clients.”
    Not that he could really know those things so soon, but a pink flush rose into Harriet’s cheeks. He thought she was beautiful? Flattery shouldn’t get anyone anywhere, but it might get him a little somewhere.
    “I was on the edge. Lost. But she found me.”
    An original poet he was not, but it still made her want to burst into tears.
    “Her blood was the most incredible thing I’ve ever tasted. Pure and good and, yes, I know she’s not fully human like you.” Kiral handed her a little smile. “You smell similar, but I realize that’s because you’re family. You have a taint on your scent. Harriet’s, she