Demon's Daughter: A Cursed Book Read Free

this meant I could fight again, and Dro could feel like she had helped me when she hadn’t been strong enough to kill the monster herself.
    She moved onto the back of my head and I couldn’t help but stiffen. It just felt so wrong.
    “Sorry,” she whispered.
    “It’s okay,” I told her, forcing my shoulders to drop and relax. “It just feels weird.”
    Soon enough, Dro had finished healing my wounds. Aside from the dirt and bloodstains on my clothes, it was impossible to tell I’d had been in a fight. Even though she only had a few minor scratches, I made her heal herself. I’d been overly protective even when we were kids, and it had only gotten worse as we got older and our lives spiraled out of control. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for Dro. Nothing I wouldn’t steal, no law I wouldn’t break, no monster or man I wouldn’t kill.
    I would burn the world to a cinder to save Dro.
    After she healed and I’d concealed as much of the blood as I could, I rearranged the bag on my back and started walking out of the alley with my strange little sister behind me. The town was small and while the fire crews were on their way, it would take the sheriffs a few more minutes to get here.
    More than enough time for me to steal a car and find somewhere else for us to run. When Dro had a nightmare, it meant monsters were close. I didn’t want to get into another fight if I could avoid it, even if they weren’t the things I feared the most.
    The monsters scared me. The cartel and the federal Marshals hunting us scared me.
    But Dro scared me more.

Chapter 2
    We drove to Amarillo, which was only a fraction bigger than the last town we had been in. Amarillo was a sleepy place with some paranormal hunting groups, which was why Dro had suggested going there.
    We spent the first day doing research. Dro went to the library and was checking out books while I waited in the car. I’d been ready to go in with her, but I was a wanted criminal. I couldn’t exactly go into a public building and hope I wouldn’t be recognized.
    While I was waiting, I used the electronic tablet that had been in the car I’d stolen to read up on the Wanted lists on the U.S. Marshal website. A sketch of my angry face and a list of all my crimes were still posted there.
    Aggravated assault. Drug trafficking. Breaking and entering. Assault with a deadly weapon. Aiding and abetting. Kidnapping. Possession of firearms. Theft of varying degrees. Arson. Manslaughter. First and second degree murder. Underneath the ever growing list was a note for a hefty reward of twenty-five thousand dollars for my capture.
    I checked news sites to see what my old bosses, the Espanis de Sangre – the Blood Thorns– were up to. A shoot out with honest cops that left four officers dead, stripped of their skin with their badges nailed into their hearts. A bus full of children who were kidnapped, the boys forced to shoot their teachers and join the Thorns while the girls were raped and taken as sex slaves. The severed, veiled head of a rival gang leader’s newly wedded daughter on a bed of roses on his front porch.
    So they’re having their typical Monday , I thought bitterly.
    Remembering the things I had done for them brought up bad, unwanted memories. I had never crossed the line into murdering children or brides, but I hadn’t skipped out on a role as a torturer either. I had more than my share of blood on my hands, innocent and not.
    I got out of my self-loathing, focusing on monsters and mythology instead. I did a couple of image searches of the Red monster, but all I saw were pictures of a stereotypical red, horned devil. Nothing specific enough.
    After about half an hour, I gave up on the monster search and starting looking for a description of a creature with the same powers that Dro had. I came up with nothing. Whatever she was, she might be the only one of her kind.
    I’d known she wasn’t normal when I found her…
    I had been four years old, and our family