Broken Heart 06 Come Hell or High Water by Michele Bardsley Read Free Book Online Page B

and their experiment gone wrong, poor Lorcan, had been directly responsible for eleven deaths. They took a particular interest in the Broken Heart Turn-bloods, and we had their protection forever.
    I worked; I raised my son; I did all the things single moms do. I'd thought it was a simple life. A good life. But it bothered me that things were going on in Broken Heart, and out in the paranormal world, that I didn't know about. Who knew what was unfolding that would affect all of us? I thought of that horrible vision of Broken Heart being destroyed and everyone being killed. I hoped it wasn't a portent, because... God, I couldn't even fathom it.
    I was so tired. Every so often, a lightning bolt of pain would shoot up my spine and radiate into my limbs. "I don't feel good," I muttered. If dawn was close, I would be asleep again in no time. Vampires were biologically designed to shut down during the day. I wouldn't have a choice.
    "Just rest," said Connor. His lips brushed across my brow. "You'll be fine."
    "Shouldn't be so nice," I said sleepily, my words slurring. "You're supposed to be mean, 'member?"
    "I'm a demon," he said softly. "How could I have an ounce of kindness or conscience?"
    "Damn straight."
    "Close your eyes, Phoebe." He stroked my hair. "You can hate me tomorrow."
     
    I woke up starving.
    I pushed off the covers and swung my legs over the edge of the mattress. The bed was so huge and high up that my feet hovered about half a foot off the floral carpet. Wow. I never figured Connor for a flowers kind of guy.
    Dizziness assailed me, so I clutched the bedspread until everything stopped spinning.
    I looked down at myself and grimaced.
    Total ickfest. My shorts and shirt were wrinkled and smelled like old sweat. My hair felt stiff, and my mouth tasted like ashes.
    Nice.
    Connor was gone.
    I didn't have my cell phone or my knives or my Glock. I didn't even have shoes. I wanted to shower and brush my teeth and kick someone's ass.
    Thoughts tumbled through my mind. It galled me that Connor had: a) disappeared. Just left me in his bedroom without a damn note or anything, and b) taken me someplace I couldn't begin to escape from, and c) saved my undead butt (unless you counted the fact that he was the reason I'd been beaten and given the Taint). He'd bartered with another demon for the antidote. Then again, it just required some of his blood. So not much of a sacrifice there.
    God, I was hungry.
    I stood up, delighted my legs didn't fold. I felt weak, but not sick. Nera's spit-blood soup (ew) worked miracles.
    "Connor?" I called out.
    "Are you okay?" asked a little girl's voice. The child, maybe seven or eight, skipped across the room and stopped about a foot away. Her blond hair was up in pigtails, her blue eyes fringed with long lashes. She wore a frilly dress the shade of pink cotton candy, little lace-rimmed socks, and black patent-leather shoes.
    "Yeah," I said. Okay. I was so not expecting a kid. "Where am I?"
    "It's my home." She looked around, her bow-shaped lips puckered into a frown.
    "It's not Connor 's?"
    She giggled. "No. Why would he live here?"
    "Yeah. That's just... silly." I studied her more closely. My demon senses started to tingle, and I realized taking things at face value was unwise. "What are you?"
    "You're smart." She twirled and lights sparked all around her. When the spinning sparkles faded, a teenage boy dressed like punk-band reject stood in her place. "And pretty. I can... you know... see why Connor digs you."
    His voice was low and sullen, his dark eyes filled with doubt about my intelligence.
    "What just happened here?" I asked. Look at me. Not freaking out. Go, Phoebe. I was probably still in shock. Yay, shock. "Seriously. That's freaky."
    "If... you know... you saw my true form, you'd go insane." He slowly twirled a finger near his temple.
    I absorbed this information. The sparkles appeared again, briefly enveloping the boy with wiggling, shiny beams. A woman dressed in a red cocktail dress