Mortal Wish by Tina Folsom Read Free Book Online Page B

fear.
    Jake glared at his opponent, peeling back his lips from his gums to give him a good view of his deadly canines.
    “Fuck!” the man croaked and tumbled backward.
    Jake tilted his head to the side. “Yeah, you could say that.” Slowly, he crossed the distance, pulled his arm back and landed a blow in the guy’s gut, making him nearly fold in half.
    “No! Please,” he whimpered. “Don’t kill me!”
    He had no intention of killing him. It wouldn’t be punishment for what he’d done to the young woman. How he’d scared her.
    Jake pressed the guy against the wall and brought his face to within a few inches of his, fangs extended. “Not tonight. But you touch another woman, you as much as look at one, I’m going to rip you to shreds.” He snarled, pausing to let the sound echo off the walls. “I’ll be watching you. You’re not safe from me anywhere. Know that. One false move, and I’ll be hunting you like an animal.”
    The man trembled with fear. He fairly smelled of it.
    “You understand?”
    Teeth chattering, he managed to nod.
    “Good. As for your goodbye present…”
    Jake pounded into the despicable human, breaking his jaw and bloodying his eyes, before he kicked him toward the exit of the alley. “Run if you want to live.”
    He watched with satisfaction as the injured assailant staggered toward the next street. When he turned a corner, Jake retracted his fangs. Then he pivoted and marched to where Claire was taking care of the young woman.
    He crouched down next to them and quickly assessed the human’s injuries. She had lacerations on her arms and hands, as well as her neck and face. But the wounds weren’t deep. The shock and fear were clearly the bigger problem.
    But it appeared that Claire was already taking care of that, because the victim’s eyes appeared to be focusing on nothing, as if she were in a trance.
    “You’re using mind control?”
    Claire looked at him for a moment. “Just like you taught me. Her injuries aren’t severe, but I don’t want her to have those memories.”
    He nodded. “I agree.”
    Claire looked back at the woman and concentrated on her. He watched her, noticing how calm and self-assured she was. As she sent her thoughts into the woman’s mind, erasing the memory of the attack, he noticed Claire’s fingernails turn into claws. Beautiful, deadly claws. Claws with which she left deep cuts in his back whenever they made love. Just thinking of it made him hard.
    “She’s ready,” Claire announced and punctured the pad of her index finger with her claw, before bringing the bleeding finger to the young woman’s lips, making her drink from it.
    While she fed the human the vampire blood, she looked over her shoulder. “I’m still fascinated with the healing power of our blood. Can you imagine the illnesses and injuries we could heal?”
    He shook his head lightly. Leave it to Claire to be the Good Samaritan. “If humans knew of our existence and what our blood is capable of, they’d hunt us to the ends of the earth.”
    Claire motioned to the exit of the alley. “You didn’t wipe that man’s memory. What makes you think he won’t tell everybody that he was attacked by a vampire?”
    “He’s too busy peeing into his pants and looking over his shoulder to breathe a word about what happened here tonight. I know his type. Preying on the weak. He won’t talk.”
    “No, he won’t. I made sure of that.”
    Jake jumped up, whirling around at the same time, his hand already inside his jacket, pulling out his stake. Adrenaline was pumping through him—because the man who’d spoken was without a doubt a vampire.
    Silhouetted against the lights from the main street, the stranger stood at the entrance to the alley. Instinctively, Jake braced himself. He was not only responsible for protecting Claire, but also the young human in their temporary care.
    The stranger moved toward him with a steady gait. As he came closer, Jake squared his stance, readying