Hunter's Need Read Free Page A

body, the door and the mass of people watching with avid interest. “Why you have to be so cold?”
    She swallowed the knot in her throat. She had to say something—had to do something to get him away from her. He might not respect strength, but most of these people did. She opened her mouth to say something— anything —
    Then, damn it, Bradley, her knight in shining armor, appeared in the doorway—just beyond Neal’s shoulder. “Leave her alone, Neal.”
    Her little brother had shot up over the past four years, but he was still too skinny, giving him an odd, stretched out appearance. Once his body had a chance to catch up, she imagined he’d bulk up some, but she seriously hoped he didn’t get much taller. He already had two inches on her.
    But he was still inches shorter than Neal—and he was a human teenager, where Neal was a vampire who’d already been an adult when he was Changed. Neal shot Brad a bored glance. “I’m talking to your sister, kid, not you.”
    “You’re not talking to her.” Brad took a step forward, a harsh note entering his voice.
    People who knew him would have backed away.
    But this particular rec room was set aside for the adult students and faculty. Brad was a bit of a special case and had special teachers who worked with him. Not one of those teachers was here. Nobody in here had ever trained with Bradley, and not one of the people in the room had any experience with him, other than the stories they’d heard. Stories most of them probably brushed off—after all, how dangerous could a fourteen-year-old human kid be?
    In Brad’s case, the answer was very dangerous .
    Ignoring Brad, Neal lifted a hand and stroked Ana’s cheek. “I keep hearing how much you’re into blood . . . why don’t you—oomph—”
    Ana felt it, a punch of psychic energy, blasting through the air. She grabbed Brad as Neal went flying backward and crashed into one of the glass-fronted media cabinets. Glass, DVDs and CDs exploded around him at the impact and he fell to the floor—seconds later he was up, moving quicker than the eye could track.
    She felt the punch of Brad’s power again and she shook him, distracted him for just a second, long enough for the swell of power to fade. “Brad, stop. Now .”
    He shrugged her off and squared off with the vampire. Once, whenever he used a power display like that, it would show on his face, in his eyes as he pushed his limits. The nosebleeds had stopped more than two years ago, and Ana wondered just how far those limits had expanded. She sure as hell didn’t want to find out now , though.
    “You little fuck, I’m gonna knock the shit out of you.”
    Ana whirled and glared at him. “The hell you will!” She might be a coward, but nobody threatened her baby brother.
    He sneered at her. “Get out of my way, bitch.”
    From the depths of the room, people started to stir.
    “Neal, back off . . . ”
    “Come on, man . . . ”
    “Backing off sounds like a damn good idea.” Bradley shoved around her, once more planting his skinny butt in front of her, protecting her—damn it, she was supposed to protect him. It was her job, one she failed at, miserably.
    The swell of psychic energy rose in the room once more and Neal grimaced as it pushed him back once more.
    “Want some help?” Brad asked, a vicious smile on his face, one that made him seem far too old. Far too bitter. Far too angry.
    Ana shoved between them and Brad deflected his next psychic strike—just like she’d suspected he would. He scowled at her. “Ana, get out of the way.”
    Behind her, she heard Neal snarl, sensed his moving—quick. Too quick.
    Several things happened at once.
    Voices emerged from the hall behind them, deep, angry and full of authority.
    The vampire who’d been shooting pool with Duke appeared from the mess of bodies, grabbing Neal as Ana turned. Neal’s hand was only inches away from her, caught in midair. The new vampire stood there, holding Neal’s wrist with