Damned if I Don't (The Harker Trilogy Book 2) by Erin Hayes Read Free Book Online Page A

things you see there, you’d never follow anyone or you’d never get your job done.”
    “Actually, Jude,” Dean starts behind me. “As a bouncer, that is her job.”
    I whirl on him out of the sheer lunacy of what he’s saying. That’s beside the point, because she attacked the Harker without any sort of warning.
    My attention diverts from her just for a second, and my ear picks up the sick sound of metal cutting through flesh. Dean’s eyes widen at a point behind me, and I turn back, too slowly, to see Reiko tear herself away from the katana impaled on the wall and rush towards me, like a rabid animal. It’s her last Hail Mary, her last attempt to make a point.
    Okay, let’s see what a few drops of Edie’s blood does to me.
    Reiko throws a punch in a perfect karate form to my face, catching my jaw and dislocating it momentarily. I snap it back into place as I begin to match her movements, her smooth, perfect kicks and punches, and my defensive ones. If her wound is slowing her down, I’m grateful for it. She’s stronger than me, and it’s only going to be a matter of time before she overpowers me.
    Meanwhile, Dean is staring at both of us, open-mouthed. Like we’re some sort of spectacle.
    Reiko is completely ignoring him; she must not think he’s a threat.
    She lands a kick to my chest, and my entire body hits the brick wall behind me, barely avoiding the car. Chunks of brick and mortal fall around and I growl at the pain and the embarrassment of being bested by Reiko.
    “Fuck you.” Reiko spits a glob of blood my way, and it lands hot on my face. Her accent is stronger when she’s winded and injured. “You’re just a meddling prick of a vampire who’s only doing this because you’re in love with—”
    I roar, cutting her off before she can go any further. I spring to my feet and rush her, catching her in her injured mid-section and exposed insides. She screams, an inhuman sound that reverberates off the walls around us. I barely register it as I backpedal her towards the wall where I had her pinned earlier. I don’t even bother removing the katana from the wall. I push her back into the handle and hilt which explode through her abdomen, high enough that her feet don’t touch the ground.
    “Now stay there,” I growl at her.
    She continues to scream even louder now as there are two gaping holes in her body. She’ll have to feed pretty soon or else she’s going to have a rough time recuperating.
    “Jude,” Dean says softly.
    I glare at him as I step back from Reiko and wipe the blood and gore off myself. I keep a spare set of clothes in the Honda just for this kind of thing, but I’ll need a shower after this.
    Dean is afraid of his own shadow and that he’s the kind of guy that would piss himself if you pulled out a stake, but he could at least tried to help.
    I pointedly turn back to Reiko who still hasn’t stopped screaming on the katana. Luckily we’re pretty secluded, so no one’s heard us. She’s in too much pain to try to pull herself off again.
    As an act of mercy and because I need her to talk, I bring my wrist to my mouth and pierce my skin with my incisors. My own blood fills my mouth and I can even taste a hint of Edie in there.
    She’s flowing through my veins. I don’t know why, but that thought feels so erotic at the moment.
    I swallow the lump back down my throat as I turn back to the girl impaled on the wall.
    Do I think that Reiko will try something else again? Possibly. Yet at the same time, I need her to speak and this is the best way to take the edge off her massive wounds.
    I offer my wrist to her and she stops flailing and reaches out towards me. I tug my arm back.
    “Don’t try to fuck around,” I warn.
    “I won’t,” Reiko rasps. Desperate. I actually hurt just thinking about how much that must be killing her.
    “Dean, can you help?” I nod to Reiko. “Grab her hands and make sure she doesn’t try to escape.”
    The vampire actually hesitates and then