Blood Hunt Read Free Page B

streets.
    The beast’s head swiveled toward her, the movement sinuous and fluid. Its green eyes fixed on her, and she swore they flared brighter for a brief moment.
    An unnatural fear rose up inside Hope, screaming for her to run. She knew what this thing was. She didn’t know its name or where it came from, but she knew that it wanted her blood.
    A roar filled her ears as a distant memory tried to surface. Her head spun and she clutched the wall behind her to stay on her feet.
    Please, God. Not now.
    As much as Hope wanted to remember her past, she wouldn’t survive the distraction. She fought off the memory, mourning its loss even before it passed.
    The beast snorted out a heavy breath, sending four curls of steam into the cold air. Its mouth opened, revealing sharp, wicked teeth.
    Hope was sure the thing wore a sinister grin.
    “Run!” shouted a man.
    She couldn’t see him, but it was his aura that peeked out from behind the monster. It pulsed with a flare of bright blue courage, and a second later, the monster roared as if it had been struck.
    Now that its attention was no longer focused on Hope, her knees unlocked and started working again. She needed to find help. Fast.
    She turned to do just that, when she caught a glimpse of an aura peeking out from behind the toppled pile of pallets.
    Hope rushed over and found a man lying unconscious on the floor. One side of his face had darkened with a bruise, and in his loose grip was a board covered in the same shiny stuff that coated the monster’s skin.
    His aura was faint, the colors flickering like the flames of a dying fire.
    He wasn’t going to make it if she didn’t do something.
    Across the room, a crash sounded as the fight wore on. Hope didn’t waste time figuring out who was winning. It was going to take all her strength to get this man out of harm’s way. Just in case it was the monster who won.
    She shoved the pallet pinning him down off his legs. His jeans were dark with blood.
    Hope patted his face, hoping to wake him. His eyes fluttered open, but she doubted his ability to focus. His pupils were huge and a cold sweat covered his brow. “Logan. I need Logan. Poison. He can fix it.”
    Hope didn’t know how he knew that, but she doubted he’d waste his breath lying.
    Her gaze slid across the room to the fight. The man battling that beast must be Logan. She had to help him. She had no idea how to defeat the monster, but she’d seen a length of metal pipe back near the door, and she wasn’t afraid to use it.

    Logan looked up from the floor where he landed. The spots cleared just in time for him to see the demon’s giant, slimy foot hurling toward his head.
    Logan rolled aside, dodging at the last instant. Chips of concrete flew into his face, stinging as they hit. He smelled his blood a moment before he felt the hot trickle of it sliding down his cheek.
    The creature’s foot was raised, poised for another attack. Logan’s body shook with weakness, so cold he could barely feel his limbs. Only the dull throb of pain managed to get through the growing numbness of his body.
    He was running out of time. Soon, the poison would incapacitate him, making him an easy meal.
    There was no way Logan was walking away from this alive. The child had to be his first priority. He just needed to buy Pam enough time to escape. If her child survived, he could one day save others of Logan’s race.
    The thought brought him a sliver of solace.
    It was time to pull out all the stops. He gathered up a bit of power and burst from the ground, shoving his dagger deep into the demon’s groin. The beast howled. Black blood spurted from the wound.
    Logan shoved the blade sideways to slice open a large wound before jerking it out. He stumbled backward as the demon clutched at its wound, trying to stop the flow of blood. Not that it would do any good. That blow was fatal. It was just a question of how long it would take the demon to bleed out and whether Logan would survive until