Demon's Embrace by V. J. Devereaux Read Free Book Online

of the night, it was too late for the studiers and too early for the partiers to be returning. With the chill in the air only the most dedicated students would be out.
    They burst out into another parking lot, the orange glow of the sodium lights illuminated them clearly. There was no help for it.
    Steering for the exit, Ash gunned the bike, shot them out onto the narrow street between the school buildings, taking the bike over the grass of one of the commons as a car raced to cut them off. He burst out in front of it by inches. Few cars could come close to the speed and horsepower of the bike, it had been custom made just for him, the body of composite materials stronger than steel, with the best engine they could find.
    He left the car in the dust but another popped out ahead of them, tried to cut them off.
    Dodging and darting past those who tried to intercept them, weaving the bike through and around the cars, Ash headed for the open highway. There would be traffic there, not much at this time of night but no stop signs or turns. It was a straight shot, he could open up the bike there, use its speed and power to their advantage.
    Everywhere he turned, though, there was another car racing to try to cut them off.
    Miri clung to him on the bike. She forced herself to keep her arms wrapped loosely around his waist so she wouldn’t hamper his movements, moving with him, all too conscious of the hard muscles of his body beneath her hands. Despite the outer cold, his body radiated heat, kept her warm despite the chill of the night.
    They raced through darkness broken only by moonlight and streetlights. All Miri could do was trust to Ash’s skill, tightening her hands only slightly as one car came that fraction of an inch too close, so close she swore she felt the chrome brush her leg but then Ash whipped the motorcycle around it to shoot down the ramp and onto the highway.
    Ash opened the motorcycle up and her head snapped back as the bike accelerated.

Chapter Four
     
    Taking the risk that no police officer could keep up with him on the bike, rounding a curve Ash turned off the headlights and taillights to give their pursuers one less means by which to follow them and crouched low over the handlebars to present less of a silhouette. He was grateful they were in less traveled territory where the streetlights were farther apart.
    Even so, they’d have to take a brief rest soon, if only for Miri. The excitement of battle and flight would be wearing off now and exhaustion would follow. Already he could feel her hands loosening a little, her body not as tense against his back.
    He was fairly sure they’d lost their pursuers though and there were a dozen exits those who chased them would have to search, in case they’d turned off the highway once they’d lost sight of them. That would force the hunters to check of them, he hoped.
    Pain had long been a part of Ash’s world but it had been a while since he’d been in such a fight and even he felt hammered where the bullets had battered his armor. He bore numerous small wounds from ricochets, not to mention the wounds in his bicep and thigh, both of which still bled sluggishly. They had to find a place to rest and soon. With the loss of blood, exhaustion from the fight and the use of magic, he was very nearly spent, with no way to restore the loss except to find some brief respite to allow the magic inherent in his body to do its work.
    Despite Miri. Someday she’d be able to relieve that need but not yet.
    If that was the path she chose to take… Nothing was sure, that was life.
    The thought of her filled him. He was all too conscious of her body against his back, her arms around his waist. It seemed as if he’d been hard from the first moment he’d seen her.  The connection with her was there but the choice hadn’t yet been made. There’d been no time. It was and had to be hers to make. He wouldn’t force it.
    Almost involuntarily, he glanced into the rearview mirror