Redemption by Erica Stevens Read Free Book Online

few days with what they had left.
    The dull thud of Lucas's boots sounded against the planks as he pulled out a chair and plopped into it. Hannah winced and ducked away as the chair gave out with a loud snap. With a small thud, Lucas sprawled inelegantly upon the floor in a heap of debris.
    "Son of a bitch!" He slapped his hands on the ground before tossing a chair leg off of his lap.
    Hannah shook her head and planted her hands on her hips. "It was probably broken during the fight."
    He glanced at her from under a lock of wayward brown hair that was five shades lighter than hers. His nose scrunched up as his russet eyes met hers. "Maybe it was just old."
    "It was perfectly fine last night," she retorted.
    "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled as he shoved another broken leg off of him and rose to his feet. "I'll fix it."
    "I don't think anyone is going to be able to fix it," the stranger sitting at another table said.
    Hannah glanced at the auburn haired human she had spotted amongst the fray earlier. Shadows marred the soft skin beneath his bloodshot eyes but he was still holding a deck of cards in his hand as he gave her a grin that had probably made more than a few women fall in love with him. Though it made Hannah smile in return, she had no romantic interest in the human. She'd been bitten in the ass by strangers before and had vowed years ago not to get involved with them again.
    Old man Turner was the only one still sitting at the table with the newcomer. Judging by the size of the pile in front of Turner compared to the one in front of the stranger, Turner was going to get an earful when he finally dragged his butt home to his wife, which was something that Turner would be doing soon if she had anything to say about it.
    "He's going to give it a try though," Hannah told the stranger.
    The stranger's eyes twinkled with amusement as his gaze drifted back to Turner. Though it wasn't an everyday occurrence, more and more out-of-towners had begun to drift through their town since the end of the war. There had been some travelers in the town during the years before the war, but far less than there were now, and vampires from this town had never traveled beyond its boundaries. This town was the one place that they didn't have to worry about the fear and distrust they often encountered in other towns. This town was their home and none of them were willing to leave the security it had to offer them.
    No, strangers weren't a rare occurrence anymore, but the vampire this man was traveling with had caught her attention. He was the first vampire she'd ever seen not back down from Calvin. She'd been terrified Calvin was going to kill him for his insolence, but she couldn't shake the feeling that the stranger might actually be a threat to Calvin. She didn't see how that was possible though, Calvin was the most powerful vampire within a couple of hundred miles as far as she knew. He never let anyone forget it either as he ruled this town and all its inhabitants with an iron fist.
    She was trying to convince herself that her interest in him was because he hadn't backed down from Calvin, but she knew that it was more than that. Though there were a fair amount of handsome men in town, including Calvin, none of them had affected her in quite the same way that this new vampire had. His unrelenting steel gray eyes had been seared into her memory when they had met and held hers. The planes of his high cheekbones and the curve of his square jaw haunted her thoughts. His tussled hair would have been completely black if it hadn't been for the streaks of brown and gold that ran through it. The tanned hue of his skin, and those fairer strands of hair, lent an air to him that screamed of the outdoors, of being able to run wild and a freedom that she would never know.
    Uncle Abe had informed her that the vampire had taken two rooms upstairs but she didn't know how long they would be staying in town for. Maybe she would get a chance to talk with