Temptation, Chronicles of the Fallen, Book 3 by Brenda Huber Read Free Book Online

power surge was? Did her angelic blood somehow clue her in to what they were? And if so, why then couldn’t she realize he was as they were—demon? Why didn’t she seem to fear him?
    “Ah, nothing.” She shook her head and offered him a very wide, obviously fake smile. “Nothing’s wrong.”
    He didn’t need Xander the walking lie detector to tell him she was lying through her pearly whites. Xander, the Demon Slayer, had once described his curse as feeling like a thousand spiders were crawling over his skin when a lie was told, no matter how small or inconsequential. Creepy. Still not as bad as Gideon’s own curse, but creepy as hell all the same.
    Her panic was palpable, her focus darting over the club walls, high up, stopping when she spied the glowing exit sign on the far side of the dance floor. Her expression fell as she glanced back toward the demons that’d now fanned out and were sweeping through the dancers. Squarely between her and all the exits. She looked like a cornered rabbit.
    “I hate to call a lady a liar, but I’d have to be blind, deaf and dumb as a doorknob not to see something’s bothering you.”
    She licked her bottom lip and then little white teeth began to gnaw on the plump pink flesh. His nostrils flared, and his brow drew together as his groin grew painfully tight in response.
    “I, um…” She glanced over her shoulder. No exit there, either. “I just realized I need to go, I mean leave. I need to leave. Go home,” she stammered.
    She searched his face then, assessing and shrewd. He could see the wheels grinding away in that pretty little head of hers. She glanced past him once more, then quickly stepped to the side so that his large frame effectively shielded her, blocking her from anyone who might look this way from the dance floor.
    “And there’s somebody out there you don’t want to see when you leave.” He raised his voice just enough there at the end so she could take it as a statement or a question.
    “Yes,” she admitted, smiling at him in a relieved sort of way.
    “So who are we avoiding?” he asked, deliberately making them a team, hoping to build her trust by inserting himself into her situation as a coconspirator. Turning his head, he scanned the crowd as if he didn’t already know the answer.
    “See that guy over by the Budweiser sign? The bald one with the denim jacket?” Gideon nodded. “And the one over by the exit sign? Blue hair and green ripped T-shirt?” She went on, her tone reluctant and embarrassed. Lifting a brow, Gideon turned his head to look at the second demon before nodding. She hesitated a moment longer before adding, “And the guy with the sunglasses and long blond hair, yellow shirt, by the front door?”
    Damn, she’d pegged all three of them. He began to wonder what other little gifts her angelic blood had given her.
    “Three?” He injected a note of incredulity into his tone, and watched the color in her cheeks darken. “I’m thinkin’ it’s a good thing I decided not to ask you to dance after all. You seem to make a habit of leavin’ a trail of broken hearts in your wake.” He didn’t know why he was messing with her like this, but he couldn’t seem to help himself.
    “Oh, it’s not like that at all!” the Halfling blurted, then seemed to catch herself. “I mean, ah…”
    “It’s okay.” He relented, grinning. “I’ll get you out of here without them seeing you. Trust me?”
    She stared up at him, long and hard, her brow furrowed. As if she was trying to read the secrets of his soul. Again, power surged around her, so strong he feared Stolas’s minions would home in on her. Tilting her head, her lips slightly parted, she drew a deep breath.
    “You’re dangerous,” she murmured. “But you don’t intend to cause me harm.” Then, louder, she added, “Yes, I trust you.”
    “I have one little stipulation.” That had been rule number two. Find what your target needed and use it as a bargaining tool. Asher