Read Broken Heart 06 Come Hell or High Water for Free Online Page A

every ounce of it." He stroked my hair.
    My eyes fluttered open. I was lying on a very comfortable bed, my head cushioned by the fluffiest pillows ever. The covers were whisper-soft, and felt good on my sensitized skin. I felt like I'd been dipped in acid and thrown into a wood chipper. Connor sat on the edge of the mattress and hovered over me, looking so relieved I wondered just how badly I was hurt.
    "Where am I?"
    "Somewhere safe."
    I didn't have much choice except to believe him. We were mated, after all, and aside from the obvious reason to keep me alive, I was an important pawn in whatever game he was playing with Lilith.
    "Why do I still feel like shit?" What happened to my super-duper healing mojo? Every part of me throbbed in pain, from my toes to my eyeballs. I felt as if I were gonna throw up.
    "The demon bit you."
    I focused on Connor's concerned gaze. Concerned, my ass. He was a faker. "I was there, remember?"
    "When you're well, lass, I'll teach you to fight."
    A demon teaching a demon hunter? Riiiight.
    "I can kick your butt." I lifted my hand to poke him in the chest, but I missed. My vision blurred. I felt woozy - like I'd been doing tequila shooters all night. "I was the only Family Durga vampire in Broken Heart. But... but... but I got trained all over the place. And, you know, Durga showed me a few things before she went all superevil and got banned."
    "She dinnae show you enough. Fightin' demons is a far greater challenge than stavin' off other kinds of enemies."
    "I got moves." I put up my fists and rolled them. Then I giggled. "Dude. I feel weird."
    He grimaced.
    "I need blood," I said. "If I take a pint, maybe two, I'll heal faster."
    Connor shook his head. "It won't stay in your stomach long enough to be absorbed."
    His words burrowed through my queasy, fuzzy sickness. "So, I can't eat? How am I supposed to heal? I can't just... loll around."
    Connor looked away. When he returned his gaze to mine, his expression was blank. "There are things you dinnae know, lass."
    "Tell me about it." I frowned. "Lilith said I would be dead in a day or two." Panic wobbled. Or maybe it was nausea. "What's wrong with me?"
    "The Taint," he said.
    I went utterly still as cold horror swept through me. "No. No!"
    "Do you know why the Taint is the only disease that affects vampires? The first infection started when a demon bit a vampire. And the vampire passed it along to others, and, as diseases do, it mutated. It became something else. Something terrible."
    "I really am going to die."
    "No. You won't." He stroked my shoulder as though the motion could also wipe away my fear. "I want you to rest," he said. "Let me take care of you."
    Oh, he sounded so sincere. Like he wanted to help because he had actual feelings for me. It galled me that he'd seduced me so easily, that I fell for him. Even through my fury beat the soft pulse of knowledge that I wanted him. If he hadn't betrayed me, I would still be his.
    I had the Taint.
    Lilith's freaking demon had given me the disease.
    My body felt shivery and achy, and my head throbbed as if it were about ready to explode.
    The Taint. I couldn't wrap my brain around it. Was it true? Would Connor lie to me? I was obviously sick; why tell me it was the worst thing ever for a vampire?
    "Why didn't the Consortium know? Why did royal lycan blood offer a cure?"
    "I dinnae know. Ah, lass. Knowledge is lost," said Connor. "And sometimes it's found again." He sighed. "You an' your friends live in a bubble. All you ken about the paranormal world is what you're told. Have any of you traveled elsewhere since your Turnings?"
    Honestly I couldn't think of one Turn-blood who'd ever permanently left Broken Heart after the Consortium took over. I drove my son to Tulsa for his visits with his daddy, but it was straight there and straight back.
    "It's hard to protect the supernatural secret," said Connor. "Especially with those new to our world. It's why humans have so many myths and legends. Humans are