To Crave a Blood Moon by Sharie Kohler Read Free Book Online

bleeds. It’ll stop soon.” Opening her eyes, she looked up. Again, as if she knew more than she possibly could. As if she heard thesounds of death. Killing. Inhaling a steady breath, she fixed molten brown eyes on him. “How long have you been down here?” Her gaze scanned the scruffy growth of beard on his face.
    â€œLong enough.” He drew away along the wall, eyes devouring her, the fruit of temptation that he must resist. He
would
resist.
    Her eyes followed him.
    â€œWhy do you… fear me?” she whispered.
    Her words—the truth—sliced through him. There was no denying he feared her. He feared her before he ever knew her, when Gunter told him she would be coming. He feared what she would do to him. Drive him over the brink, steal his soul…
    But how did she know that
?
    Then he understood.
    Incredible as it seemed, she could read his mind. Somehow. Some way. Maybe she was a witch. He knew they existed, one had started the lycan curse.
    â€œI’m not afraid of you,” he lied.
    He tried to clear his mind, to not think about the fear she roused. To not think about himself. About the beast that prowled inside him whose instinct refused to let him starve.
    â€œWhatever.” Sighing, she chafed her hands harder along her arms, clearly attempting to warm herself against the room’s chill. She turned in a small circle,stopping to consider the window set high in the wall. Again. The window was narrow, not large enough for anybody to squeeze through.
    â€œYou won’t fit.”
    She looked at him again. “I see that. What are we going to do, then?”
    He dragged a ragged breath into his constricted lungs, battling her presence, battling the inner demon she awakened. “Do?”
    â€œYes, what’s the plan?” She took a step in his direction, bringing her sweet scent closer.
    â€œThe plan,” he gritted, sidling further away. A humorless smile twisted his mouth. Strange for him to fear
her
so much. He was stronger. More powerful. Experienced in ways this mortal—or witch—never could be. And still, she struck fear in the shadows of his heart. He would not become all that his mother feared and reviled.
    â€œThe plan is for you to keep your mouth shut. For you to stay on that side of the room and keep the hell away from me. Become invisible,” he demanded. “And just maybe you’ll live.”
    And maybe he wouldn’t become the very thing he loathed and hunted.

6
    Ruby watched the dark shape of the man over the tops of her bent knees. She flexed her fingers around her calves, locking her arms tighter, as if they were the only thing holding her together, keeping her from splintering apart.
    Dark anguish rolled across the room like billowing smoke, stoking the core of her with a feeling she could not quite absorb… could not understand. Her stomach ached as it did whenever bombarded by too much emotion. Only it usually took a large group or crowd of people to affect her. Over the years, she had learned to block out individuals and small groups. But the feelings he emitted were too… much. Too intense. Too overwhelming.
    She dropped her head against the cold stone wall at her back. Stay away from him? Right. Fat lot of good that did. She
felt
him. Every strange, twisted emotion roiling inside him. Feelings that reminded her of the beasts upstairs—lycans, he claimed. And yet not. Different. Less frightening but—crazy as it sounded—equally dangerous.
    The strongest emotion he emitted was fear. Acerbic and nonstop, the bitter tang of it coated her mouth. Instead of making him weak, it only made him more dangerous. Unpredictable.
    Before she could reconsider, she whispered into the still of the room, “Why can’t we talk?” Because she needed to talk, needed to connect with someone amid this nightmare.
    His bowed head snapped up. His eyes glittered at her from across the shadowed distance. Even