Bitten by Darkness by Marie E. Blossom Read Free Book Online Page B

buys a clue , Sienna thought in relief.
    He nodded
reluctantly. “I see.”
    Sienna
backed away, grabbing her mother's purse as she moved. She decided to leave her
blade. Let Jasper figure out what to do with it.
     
     

 
    Chapter Nine
     
    Jasper
stood at the curb near a large maple and looked over the small apartment
building. Sienna lived on the second floor. It would be tricky to get up there
without anyone seeing him, especially in this mostly rural town. He fingered
her knife, rubbing a thumb over the rivet sunk into the handle. She'd used it a
lot, he could tell by the scratches on the blade. She kept it sharp, though.
The question was: what did she use it for? Why did she have it?
    He shook
his head. He shouldn't be here. He'd just barely got the nanites working and was nearly out of the samples he acquired on the underground blood
market back on Dekcol . Now that he’d had time to look
at some of the data he’d stolen from the Council’s encrypted database, he knew
that the sentient blood market was far more of a well-organized crime syndicate
than a casual money making scheme. And it was run by Dekcol’s government, the same one who’d coerced him onto their Council. He swallowed the
nasty taste in his mouth as he considered the entire operation again. He had to
stop them, but the thought of hitting a blood bank here to obtain more filled
him with disgust. He would do it if he had to—he had no illusions about himself—but
he was not a monster. People depended on those supplies and unlike the syndicate, he did not function under the misapprehension
that the donated blood supply was endless.
    When the
front door opened, Jasper moved. An older woman and a young man, possibly her
grandson, smiled as he caught the door, holding it for them. The man looked him
over curiously, but the old woman smiled.
    “You're a
friend of Sienna's,” she said.
    Jasper
raised an eyebrow. “Yes. How did you know?”
    “Oh, she
described you to me. Said a tall man with nice eyes might be
stopping by.” With that extraordinary statement, the woman patted his
arm and let her grandson escort her down the uneven pavement to his car.
    For a
moment, all he could do was stare , dumbfounded. Sienna
thought he had nice eyes? He wondered if slapping himself in the face would
help his brain restart, then discarded the idea. If anyone saw him hitting himself they’d think he was insane. More importantly, how
did Sienna know he would be coming over? The incident with the revenant had
happened two nights ago. He was still trying to determine whether the attacks
he'd seen in the short time since his return to Earth were normal, or somehow
heightened. Is this violence my fault? he wondered, not for the first time. He worried about it. Worried that they could
sense him somehow and were attacking those close to him. Can they sense
Sienna is my mate? If so, how? Her friend was hurt
even before I knew she existed.
    He shook
himself. Enough paranoia. Most likely the attacks were
unrelated to his arrival. He had no data on revenant attacks prior to his
return and no way to gather it. He’d have to assume it was normal, at least
until some further evidence presented itself. He frowned, a brief spurt of
anger propelling him inside the small entryway. He was here to return Sienna’s
knife, nothing more. He had no intention of lingering, or allowing her to gain
a better understanding of what was happening between them. He couldn’t afford
the liability of a mate, not now, probably not ever. And he wouldn’t be here
long enough for any revenants to sense his presence. She should be safe.
    If you
were so worried about her safety, why didn't you just mail her knife to her?
Why are you here in person? He
took the stairs two at a time, as if that would allow
him to outrun the voice in his head telling him he was mad to ignore Sienna and
the promise of her body. I’m just hungry. I need to feed. He resolved to
go hunting again tonight. Even if he