DarkInnocence by Madeline Pryce Read Free Book Online Page A

With every step, her long dark hair danced from the cars
zooming passed us. She stopped, looked up at Dante and I.
    “Julian’s been having problems with a few of the old
vampires who no longer want a monarchy.”
    Finally! Information. “Is that why he came by tonight?” I
asked.
    She nodded. “They’ve been creating fledglings and building
their own armies. Even though we don’t work for the Shadow Agency anymore,
Micah, Eli and I have been neck-deep in vampire ashes. Julian has five of the
sacred eight, himself included, accounted for. That leaves three rogues still
out there and a number of other master vampires who were never a part of the
court.”
    “Just what the world needs, more fucking vampires,” Dante
mumbled. He handed me off to Ella and walked to the front of the car.
    “What are you doing?” I asked and shivered when a gust of
wind nearly ripped my coat open.
    He bent, the bulk of his body eclipsed by the car. His words
drifted in the wind. “Seeing what went wrong with your car. I’ll be able to
tell if the brake line was tampered with.”
    “Don’t you need to jack it up?” I asked.
    As I spoke, Dante lifted the front of the car off the
ground. I quirked an eyebrow and looked to my sister for confirmation that he’d
just picked up a damn vehicle. Her mouth dropped open. We both looked back to
Dante. Still holding it up as if it weighed nothing, he peered at the
undercarriage.
    “Or not,” I muttered.
    “Wow.” Ella fanned herself. “That’s kinda hot.”
    I nodded, imagining all the other things Dante could do with
his big, strong arms. “Totally hot.”
    “Fuck.” Dante lowered the car. He wiped his hands on his
pants and left a dark-black streak in its wake. “Someone punctured your brake
line.”
    Something cold slithered down my spine as I started
connecting the dots. If I hadn’t know exactly what to do, I could have very
easily hurt someone, or worse, killed myself. “Not a coincidence then.”
    He shook his head. “No. The hole isn’t in a crease, just
smack-dab in the middle of the flex line. How long were you at my house before
I came out of the shower?”
    “Five, maybe ten minutes,” I said.
    Dante curled his upper lip to expose slightly elongated
feline canines. “So he tailed you to my house. Then followed when you left.”
    Ella looked down one side of the road and then the other as
if she were waiting for vampires to start popping up at any moment. “We need to
get her out of here and somewhere safe.”
    “You got a change of clothes?” Dante asked.
    “Backpack in the front seat.”
    He opened my car door, reached inside and gathered my stuff.
He took me by the hand and led me to his truck, away from my sister. “I’m
taking her home to get dressed, and then we’re going to the Vault.”
    Ella narrowed her eyes and trailed after us. “She’ll be
safer with me.”
    “Dante, wait.” I dug my heels in and he pulled me behind him
anyway.
    At the truck, he stopped and set me inside despite my
half-assed protests. He was taking control. The small glimpse of his dominance
made me feel more secure than I had in a long time. Dante faced off against the
vampire queen.
    “Safer, maybe. Saner, no. That house you moved into is
fucking with her head. She hates it there and I’m not forcing her to go back.
Until this guy is caught, she ain’t leaving my side.” He crossed his arms over
his chest, his words respectful, but final.
    Ella mirrored his posture, a lot less respectful, and
growled, “You don’t get to decide what’s best for her.”
    “The hell I don’t.” His shoulders stiffened and widened. If
possible, he appeared larger, more serious. “A woman gets naked in your bed—you
get input on what’s best for her.”
    “God, you sound just like Micah,” Ella shouted. “You turned
her down!”
    Dante dropped his hands to his side and curled his fingers
into a fist. He yelled right back, “She deserves better than a quick fuck.”
    I shook my