Night Angel Read Free Page A

indentation of the paper. He’d had a glorious smile, but it had never reached his eyes. Muriel waved a hand in the periphery of Juliana’s vision, interrupting her thoughts. She glanced over to her face.
    “I was still talking.”
    Juliana smirked and jotted, Sorry.
    “I said you need to be careful. Ask Bartley about his boss next time he comes by. Find out who he really is before you waste your precious thoughts on that one.”
    Juliana sighed. Being deaf does not make me stupid or naive. I have pepper spray, and I’ve been through self-defense classes. I’m just as capable as you.
    “You and your mother are all the familyI have left, and she’d kick my arse if I let anything happen to you.”
    Juliana laughed and quickly pressed her lips together. She tried not to allow any sound to escape her throat. With no ability to hear herself, she had no idea how loud she might be. To be safe, she kept silent.
    Her pen scratched across the paper. I’m careful.
    “See that you are. There was something about that guy…”
    Juliana nodded, focusing on the door again. There was definitely something about him all right. He commanded attention. The moment she’d seen him, his smile had warmed her all over. He carried an aura of power, but it was his eyes intrigued her. Over the years, she’d learned to read the tiny lines around a person’s eyes, the nuances most people missed. He’d been playful with her, but when he mentioned looks could be deceiving, she’d recognized a flash of pain. There was a shadow lurking in the depths of his beautiful dark green eyes.
    His life was being woven into the fabric of hers, and she wanted to know why.
     

     
    Colin wandered the alleys in search of a heartless mortal to quench his thirst for blood, someone no one would miss. But his mind kept returning to the woman he’d met inside the pub. Her dark eyes haunted him, and her warm smile seemed strangely void of the bitterness he expected from someone who’d had her hearing stolen from her.
    What made her tick, he wondered.
    He turned a corner into a shadowed alley with tiny lights draped from above. Romantic if it weren’t for the muffled struggles of a woman. He focused on the sound, tracking it with his acute hearing.
    A drunken thug had a young lady pinned against a car, one hand over her mouth and one hand fumbling with his zipper.
    “If ye can get yer pants down one-handed without catchin’ yer snake in the zipper, yer too plastered to get it up anyway,” he called, allowing an Irish brogue to seep into his voice as he approached.
    “Bugger off. This is none of yer business.”
    Colin’s tone sobered, his already-deep voice lowering with each step. “Let her go.”
    The woman’s struggles picked up a notch, and her knee connected with her attacker’s groin. He slammed her head against the top of the car door. “Bitch!”
    Her eyes drifted closed, and Colin moved in. Before the man could utter a word, Colin’s fangs were deep in his neck. Pulling in deep draughts of rich, warm, alcohol-laced blood, the man’s memories flooded Colin’s senses. A life full of excuses. Everyone owed him a break, and he pissed away every opportunity, again to no fault of his own.
    Colin searched the man’s chaotic thoughts for the name of the lass lying unconscious in the alley beside the car. Finally, he saw her face. She’d been serving him drinks at a pub down the road, and he’d jumped her when she’d gotten off work. Scumbag. Her name was Penny.
    He braced the man’s weakened body with his good arm, drinking until the man’s heart finally stopped. Colin cut the tip of his tongue on his own fang, allowing his blood to heal the wound on the man’s neck.
    He rushed to the woman’s side, tapping her cheek gently. “Penny?”
    She groaned, slowly blinking. Suddenly her entire body tensed, her eyes going wide. He shook his head. “Yer safe now. He’s gone. Look at me, Penny.”
    She stared up at him, and he allowed his power to