Azrael's Light [Demon Runners of Unearth] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Amy J. Hawthorn Read Free Book Online Page B

lead became a lethal one-two punch, disarming her. Any intelligence and self-control she had flew right out the window. He was an incubus, luring her in with seductive words and dark promises. Her knees redoubled their efforts to stay upright.
    She didn’t have time for this, and no way, no how could she make sexy eyes with a Soul Runner. What was she thinking? Every sane thought she had evaporated, and that was the problem.
    She couldn’t let him get under her skin or her clothes.
    “Look, Azrael, you can put away the smolder. You’re wasting it on me. While your story makes sense, I can’t accept anything at face value. I have to put Alia’s safety first. I will always put her first. So until I know for certain what’s going on, you won’t get any help from me. Sorry.”
    “That’s a shame. I think working together could benefit us both. Maybe in more ways than one.
    “Nope. Not happening. So, I’ll see you later, big guy.” He really needed to leave. Now. It was as if he knew her resolve weakened with each word he spoke in that low, sexy timbre of his. She wouldn’t be surprised to find out he used it intentionally.
    Using the last of her will, she stomped her bare foot and pointed at the door. If she acted immature, it couldn’t be helped. She would do whatever it took to get him out of her home and on his way.
    She needed time alone with her thoughts and needed to contact Alia. She hoped she appeared soon. She needed answers almost as badly as she needed to know her niece was all right.
    Azrael tipped his head down as if letting her know she’d won this round, and then he was gone.

Chapter 7
     
    When would her mother learn? No matter how many times she’d warned her, she’d refused to listen. Though she was the child, parenting her mother was a task she was forced to take on from time to time. She loved her mother absolutely, but something had to give.
    On top of her mother’s stupid stunt, she had other worries and they made her heart ache one hundred times more than the latest family squabble. Fights would come and go like the phases of the moon, but something had to have happened to her love. Something big and terrible. With nothing more than a lover’s trust and gut feelings to go on, she knew it sounded naïve, but in her heart, she knew it to be the truth. If he hadn’t come for her when he’d said, something devastating had happened. Nothing short of an apocalypse would have kept him from her. She knew it deep in her heart.
    So where was he? And what had happened?
    The boulder she sat on was cold and hard against the bare skin of her thighs. Her skirt offered no protection from the chill, but in truth, she enjoyed the bite of cold. Her boots sat empty on the gravel beside the boulder, and the icy chill of the lake’s waters numbed her feet, reminding her of home. The sickle moon hung low and bright over the lake, and the night’s silence calmed her, allowing her the peace she needed to think.
    She missed the days when her father took her on his treks through his kingdom, showing her nearly every nook and cranny that comprised the circles of Hell. Thanks for dreaming those horrors to life and sharing them with the world, Dante. Her father forbid her from traveling one particular path and refused to tell her what waited at its end.
    Overprotective much, Dad?
    She didn’t understand why he wouldn’t show her this one last little circle when everyone knew her by sight and Light signature. They all feared her father. No one would dare sneeze in her direction, let alone take one step toward harming her. Even disguised, there was nowhere she could travel unrecognized and simply wait things out.
    She didn’t have anywhere to go on Earth either. While she trusted most humans just fine and she knew her aunt would welcome her no matter what ugly baggage she brought with her, there were just too many unknowns. And one of those variables in particular didn’t care who or what got in his way. She