Predator Girl (A Paranormal Romance) by S. B. Roozenboom Read Free Book Online Page B

bad it didn’t end on the same great note.
    I sat outside, reading my magazine. Maybe because I’d gotten too comfortable among the humans, I didn’t recognize his smell right away. I continued reading about some young celebrity named Taylor, who had a fey-like face with thick blonde hair. In one hand she held a guitar, her other grasping the hand of a beautiful, golden-skinned boy with dark hair. His name was Taylor, too.
    I squinted at their picture, wondering if they were mates. It didn’t look like it—the boy Taylor didn’t look protective enough. He didn’t even look worried . It was almost like he offered her to people, the way he let them come close to her and take pictures. Mom had warned me that human relationships were weird, but I never knew to what extent until now. To my disappointment, the Taylor-Taylor story was the last page. Closing up the magazine, I left it on the table sure some mortal would enjoy reading it. Rolling up the paper my cake had come in, I went inside to toss my trash.
    As I came back out, the scent hit me full force, and I remembered its owner. It’s that damn Jared kid ! I stilled, sniffing the air.
    It wasn’t hard to find him. He was standing on the other side of the street, just before the intersection. His shoulders were all tensed up under his t-shirt. His dark hair waved around his face, wild as the look in his eyes.
    I didn’t think twice. I ran.
    The sound of car horns echoed through the town. That’s all I needed to hear to know he’d ignored traffic. He was coming after me. Crap, crap, crap ! I raced into the first alleyway I could find. Why did he scare me so much? Maybe it was all those horror stories I’d heard about humans burning and shooting our kind. Maybe because it’d been a long time since I’d been truly afraid of someone. Isn’t there some saying about how when an old feeling reemerges it’s twice as strong?
    It didn’t matter. I had to lead this punk, whether human or paranormal, away from sight, to end this once and for all.
    The smell of mold and fast food filled my nose. The alleyway took a sharp turn, and I was in the back of a restaurant. I stopped, lungs heaving. I whipped my head around, searching for a hiding place. An old apartment complex towered into the sky on my right. Narrow windowsills dotted the brick wall. Could I climb up them without falling?
    Footsteps thudded against the pavement, coming down the alley.
    I didn’t have a choice. With a running start, I jumped onto the restaurant’s garbage bins. From there, I sprang for a windowsill, catching the ledge and pulling myself up. My feet barely fit on the sill’s surface, my heels hung off the edge. I didn’t dare look down, for heights weren’t a favorite of mine. I climbed until I was ten feet off the ground. The window I wanted had curtains drawn on the other side. No one would see me.
    Cramming myself against the grimy glass, I waited.
    Jared came shooting around the corner. Confusion flitted across his face. He came to a halt, standing just below me.
    I held my breath, feeling my nails extend. If I jumped now, I could drill them right into the back of his skull. It might be my only chance. If he turned or happened to glance up, I’d be in trouble.
    Do it , do it , the animal in me chanted. I ran my tongue along the sharp canines in my mouth. If my claws missed or didn’t hit right, I had a nice pair of incisors to finish the job. I rocked forward on the ledge, holding the sides of the window. He turned his back, becoming a perfect target.
    Why wasn’t I jumping?
    What the hell is wrong with me ? Twice now I’d hesitated, and both times he’d been right in range. He was a punk! He was a problem that could easily turn into a disaster. This kid needed to be eliminated for the sake of myself, for the sake of my pack, just in case he knew something. Humans that knew about us always brought danger into the woods. He had to go.
    Jared spun around, eyes locking onto my ledge.