Forbidden Passion by Rita Herron Read Free Book Online Page A

devil out of my head..
    Marlena flipped the call button to request assistance, then rose and moved to stand beside him. “Gerald, we need to admit you and run some tests. I want to run a CAT scan and check for physical problems first. And we’ll also run a full battery of psychological tests—”
    “I’m not crazy! It’s the devil in me! Don’t you believe in evil, in demons, Dr. Bender?”
    Marlena tensed, remembering her childhood. “I believe there are people with problems, impulses, and chemical imbalances that drive them to commit violent acts.”
    He grabbed her by the wrists, his nails digging into her skin. “Then make the evil voices go away. Please, I don’t want to do what they say.”
    “I’m going to help you,” she said softly. “I promise, Gerald. Just relax and trust me. You need medication and rest.”
    The door opened and two orderlies entered, quickly assessing the situation. She gave them a nod. “He’s ready, aren’t you, Gerald?”
    Gerald tightened his grip on her wrist. “Please don’t leave me. I need you, Dr. Bender. I need you to make them stop.”
    “I’m not leaving you, Gerald, I promise. But first you have to calm down and let us run the tests.”
    The orderlies pried the man’s hands from her wrists, and Marlena watched as they injected him with a sedative. Seconds later, he relaxed and allowed them to lead him from her office.
    She left the room to consult Dr. Chambers, trying to shake off her unease. Oddly, Gerald was the second patient she’d seen in the last month who’d insisted that voices were ordering him to commit violent acts—though the first patient had been a woman, Prudence Puckett, a burn victim who’d suffered terrible childhood abuse.
    Still, Gerald’s rantings disturbed her. What if he had followed through on the voice’s commands and killed someone? If she discovered he wasn’t delusional, that he had committed a crime, she’d have to inform Dante.
    But first she had to assess his medical condition and determine if he was just disturbed or truly violent and dangerous.
     
     
    Dante inhaled the scent of death and chemicals as he entered the morgue, scents that stirred his dark side.
    Death was inevitable.
    He’d tasted the thrill of the kill when he’d destroyed a demon. Felt the life of subhumans slip through his fingertips as he’d forced them to take their last breath. And he’d enjoyed it.
    But he only hunted evil. Those heinous souls who deserved his punishments. He’d made himself a crusader for the cause. It was the only way he knew to save his own soul.
    Dr. Underwood met him at the front desk, pushing his goggles up as he removed latex gloves and tossed them into a bin. His limp seemed more pronounced today, his craggy face weary, his eyes, which were two different colors, racing back and forth.
    “What have you found so far?” Dante asked.
    “I had Jordie’s dental records faxed over so I could confirm her identity. It’s definitely a match..
    “What else?”
    The thick vein in his neck pulsed. “You asked me to look for anything out of the ordinary.”
    Dante nodded. “What did you find?”
    Dr. Underwood gestured toward a set of steel doors. “Follow me.”
    Dante did as he requested, stepping into the sterile room where Jordie lay on a steel gurney, her charred body draped with a sheet. Dr. Underwood had already made the Y incision and weighed organs. The acrid body odors, and the scent of burned flesh and blood, permeated the air, all reeking of death.
    The doctor pointed at a jagged blood-red mark on Jordie’s neck. “See that laceration?”
    Dante leaned forward to study it, his pulse pounding. “It’s made by some kind of tool with jagged edges.” He paused, his breath tight as his mind processed the possibilities. “No.. . it’s from teeth marks.”
    Dr. Underwood muttered a word of disgust. “Exactly. Looks like the maniac severed the carotid artery with his teeth.”
    Dante tensed. “So she bled