Wasteland by Lynn Rush Read Free Book Online

the hallway to the apartment.
    My ear to the door, I slowed my breathing and my body—still as if dead. Another demon trait.
    No signs of any movement or people.
    I slowly turned the knob and the door cracked open. One closed door between me and the exit at the far end of the hallways. Had to be how they entered the apartment from the ground level. I checked my watch. Nearly one a.m., and the club closed at two. Time enough to sneak in for a peek. But with only one exit, I’d have nowhere to run if they returned early.
    Voices trickling through the end of the hallway exit answered my hesitation.
    I backed into the stairwell but left the door partially open to watch. So much for getting any information on my Guardian friends.
    Humming an unfamiliar tune, Beka strode toward the apartment door. With slender fingers, she slid the key into the knob and cranked it open. When the door shut, I vaulted up the stairs to the roof. Once out into the night, I hurried to the edge. The light from the window reflected off the metal staircase.
    “Shit.” I hurdled over the short wall enclosing the roof and landed on the fire escape stairs.
    Hopefully I could navigate the sharp turn and get down before she was settled and would see me through the window. Down a flight, I paused.
    Beka.
    She bent over the kitchen sink, washing a glass. The ceiling light spilled its illumination over her, emphasizing her frame. A sliver of smooth, pale skin on her lower back peeked beneath the hem of her silky blouse at her movements. A quick turn to the table gifted me a glimpse of her corded stomach.
    I feared I’d let out a growl, but Beka didn’t make a move indicating she heard the beast. I must have refrained. The base of my spine tightened, and a blast of desire rushed up my back.
    She’d twisted her flowing hair up into a bun, revealing her long, swanlike neck in full form. I inched toward the stairs, but they whined beneath my two-hundred-pound body.
    Fearful she’d see me, I swung my legs over the railing and landed two stories below. The jolt resonated through my bones and up my spine, but barely registered.
    Another demon trait.
    I rushed around the corner and slouched against the building, listening. The dull, thudding bass of the dance club echoed my heart pounding my ribs. The sharp brick bit into my skin through my thin shirt, and I slammed my hand against the unrelenting surface. But the self-induced pain didn’t erase Beka’s image or the feel of her body.
    Mine.
    I was in big trouble.
     
     

CHAPTER 6
    “What’d you learn?” Gage asked when he caught up to me at the SUV.
    “Nothing. They came home as I was on my way in. Tomorrow. I’ll need you to do lookout for me. Nowhere for me to run should they come home.”
    My chest heaved, and I propped my hands on my thighs. Sweat dripped from my brow and splattered against the sidewalk. I needed the run, though. My entire being had been cooped up and immobile for so long, it might take me another century to work out all the kinks.
    “Master won’t be happy.”
    “It’s only been two days, Gage. Not even. I can’t make the Mark just appear. If he had more details for me other than a fifteen-year-old orphan. . . .” I stomped through the rock landscape surrounding the garage. “I plan to visit some orphanages tomorrow during the day.”
    There had to be something more going on here. Two Guardians, Gage hovering and watching my moves closer than any of my babysitters had, and Master constantly reminding me of the consequences of my failing to get his target.
    I slid my fingers around my throat. The choker wasn’t visible to anyone, human or demon, but it existed. Cinching tighter and tighter.
    Gage’s laughter followed me to the car. “I don’t know how your last chaperone handled you, David.”
    I stopped and turned, allowing a fraction of my demonic half to surface. Its jagged features stretched my human form. A feral rumble thundered through the darkness between us. Fear