Frostbound by Sharon Ashwood Read Free Book Online

back. He pressed the Ruger hard against her skin, but she barely noticed.
    “Who is your sire?” he demanded.
    Talia clamped her mouth shut. His dark, angry gaze locked with hers. It wasn’t the cold stare of so many killers she’d known. His eyes were hot with emotion, a righteous, remorseless fury.
    “Who made you?” His voice grated with anger.
    Talia blinked hard, her heart giving another jerking thump of fright. “No, please, if you send me back to my sire, I’ll be lucky if he only kills me.”
    “That’s what happens when a vampire goes rogue.”
    Now she was starting to sob, ugly little gasps that caught in her throat. “You can’t send me back. I didn’t kill her. I loved Michelle.” She was begging, and put every ounce of her soul into it, holding his dark, burning stare.
    A crease formed between his eyebrows. “Damn you.”
    The wail of a police siren ripped the night. Were they coming for Michelle’s murder, or was there another tragedy tonight?
    Lore pressed the muzzle of the gun like a cold kiss against her forehead. “I don’t trust you. I can’t tell if you’re the killer or not. But I believe you’re afraid of your sire.”
    Her mouth had gone paper dry. “What are you going to do?”
    His mouth thinned as if he didn’t like the question. He looked her up and down, all that anger turning to a smoldering frustration. Talia could almost feel it heating her skin.
    “The human police will assume you’re guilty and look no further. I’ll give you a choice. Take your chances with them, or . . . ” He trailed off, clearly mulling over his next words.
    “Or?” The single syllable came out in a croak.
    “Or you’re my prisoner. Take your pick.”

Chapter 6
    Tuesday, December 28, 11:00 p.m.
101.5 FM
     
     
    “ H ello, and welcome back to CSUP in the nighttime hours, with your host Errata Jones. Tonight we’re talking love amongst the monsters—especially between the monsters and everyone else.
    “One of the best-known stories of unrequited love was found in that good old classic, Dracula . I have it on good authority what happened was nothing like the book, but then where’s the surprise in that? History is usually written by the winner. If Mina and Drac found true love—well, that’s not the story her wimpy human husband wanted to spread far and wide.
    “But the truth isn’t hard to find. Think about it: Who was the crazy one in the story? The wealthy vampire making real estate investments, or the wacky Dutch doctor with his black bag of fetish objects and torture devices?
    “In other words, context is everything. Before you judge a villain or a hero and especially your lover, it’s a good idea to understand his or her motives.”

    Tuesday, December 28, 11:00 p.m.
Talia’s condo
     
    I can always get away.
    Talia’s mind was still reeling with shock, with grief, but her father’s lessons came back to her with the cold, hard pragmatism of long training. Drill long enough, and anything could become reflex. Even the art of escape.
    It was a desperate gamble, but she’d take her chances with a lone gunman—even this bruiser—over the human police. Humans weren’t strong, but there were too damned many of them. Besides, so far she’d kept out of their data banks. Once you were in their computers, Unlife got infinitely more complicated.
    On the other hand, a single attacker couldn’t watch her every second. Until Lore got her to his den of thieves, or spy central, or resistance cell, or wherever the heck he operated from, she had a window of opportunity to break free.
    Or so she hoped. He wasn’t letting her stray an inch, keeping a hard grip on her arm. Talia made the trip down the stairs with the Ruger pressed into her ribs and her hands wrenched behind her back, wrists cuffed. The position made her shoulders ache.
    It was awkward going, step-by-step, Lore never letting her get more than half a pace ahead. Their feet shuffled and echoed as they passed from landing to