Demonstorm: Heart of a Vampire #6 by Amber Kallyn Read Free Book Online

replied, her jaw clenched tight.
    They reached the motel. He grabbed the cooler from the truck, then headed to their room. From the chest, he pulled out a couple of bags of blood.
    When she saw them, she stilled, her face blanking once more.
    He slowly raised the first bag, popping off the cap, then drank the cool, coppery liquid. As it hit his stomach, energy coursed through him.
    She watched him finish two more bags, her face carved from unmoving marble.
    As he finished, she frowned and said, “I don’t drink blood. I’m not a vampire.”
    “I do. Got a problem with it?”
    “I…” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter.”
    She leaned against the wall next to the door, but didn’t yet make a run for it. Her gaze kept straying to the bag he held tight.
    He closed the cooler. “The motel owner gave me directions to a couple of nearby restaurants. You in the mood for pizza or burgers?”
    “Whatever you wish,” she stated tightly.
    His stomach churned. “Look, lady, I’m not planning on chaining you up in my dungeon and using you like Brüs did, all right? I said we wanted your help, and we do. We need it badly. But you won’t be forced, or mistreated.”
    She just stared at him, face blank, eyes dark, never-ending pools.
    He sighed. “Let’s get some food.”
    “As you wish,” was her snarky reply.
    He followed her out the door, muttering, “Just don’t start calling me Wesley.”
    * * *
    The drive was thick with tension. Mayah kept an eye on her bag, but it looked like he wasn’t going to dare let it go until they had their “talk”.
    She couldn’t believe he’d caught her. She chalked it up to being in an unfamiliar place, and taking too long to figure out which direction to go.
    When he stopped in front of a small restaurant, she got out and followed him inside. The smell of cooking meat filled the air and made her stomach growl.
    “Where would you like to sit?” he asked.
    She opened her mouth, but snapped it shut when he added, “And don’t give me that ‘whatever I wish’ line. I’m happy to stand here all day until you choose.”
    She glanced around the nearly empty place, ready to force him to do just that, but her stomach growled again. With a sigh, she gave in and headed for the nearest booth.
    Let him feed her. She’d talk. The bare minimum necessary. Then she’d take her bag and figure out how to get away.
    The waitress took their orders, eyes widening in surprise at the amount of food they each requested. After she walked away, Sean pulled out her bag and set it onto the table. He pushed it to the side, but kept it near his hands.
    “If you don’t trust me, why did you come with me?” he asked.
    She barely contained a snort of ironic amusement. “I’m not stupid. I don’t make a habit of passing up once in a blue moon opportunities, irregardless of who’s doing the offering.”
    “Okay, so let’s start there. I got you out, didn’t I?”
    Grudgingly, she nodded.
    “I didn’t reshackle you, or try to force you to do anything… until you tried running away. Which, I might add, isn’t exactly the safest thing to do right now.”
    She stiffened. “I can take care of myself.”
    “I don’t doubt that. But you can only fight so many men at a time without being overrun.”
    As if she didn’t know that well enough. It had taken most of Brüs’s army to decimate her home and defeat her father’s men—fewer in number, but greater in strength even so.
    Twelve demons had descended on her. She’d managed to take out five of them before faltering. Then, it had been easy for Brüs to snap on the hated collar, preventing her from using her magic to get out of his clutches. After he’d brought Cyrus to her, beaten and bloody, and wearing his own set of chains… Well, her choices had jumped from limited to non-existent.
    Of their father and other brother, Brüs had refused to comment. And her visions, even after all this time, had never shown her anything about either