Read Demon Hunting In the Deep South for Free Online

you. You look them right in the eye and dare them to say something to your face.”
    “As much as it pains me to admit it, she is right, Miss Douglass,” Ansgar said. “You cannot let the wagging tongues of others chart your course.”
    “And if they say anything about my BFF where I can hear them, I’ll hoo doo ’em.” Addy made a twirling motion with one hand. “See how they like that.”
    “Adara, you are Dalvahni now,” Brand said. “You cannot use your powers to torment the weak. It is not our way.”
    “Wanna bet?”
    Evie made a sound of distress. “Meredith! Oh, Addy, you gave her butt boils last summer ’cause she was ugly to me.”
    “You remember that, Eves?”
    “Of course I remember. Why wouldn’t I?”
    Addy shrugged. “Nothing. Your memory has been a little patchy lately, that’s all. Let’s eat. I’m starved.”
    Evie looked around. “Darn it. I don’t have my purse. I must have left it in the sheriff’s office.”
    Addy nodded. “We’ll get the van and meet you and Ansgar out front.”
    “But—” Evie began, sounding rattled. But Addy and Brand had already gone.
    Evie slid him a nervous glance. “It’s all right. You don’t have to wait for me.”
    The thought of being alone with him, even for a moment, frightened her. The knowledge was like a punch in the gut.
    “But I insist.” He added a pulse of power to the words.
    A human female would have melted in a puddle of feminine compliance under the strength of his spell, but Evie’s eyes merely widened. She was Dalvahni now and able to resist him, Ansgar reflected with chagrin.
    “O-okay,” she said, looking slightly dazed. Perhaps not quite so immune after all. “I won’t be but a minute.”
    She disappeared through the swinging door and returned a moment later with her bag.
    “Here it is.” Her cheeks were bright pink. “Sorry to make you wait, Mr. Dalvahni. I’d forget my head if it wasn’t screwed on.”
    “Please. Call me Ansgar, Miss Douglass.”
    He was rewarded with a shy smile. “Only if you call me Evie.”
    He stepped closer, breathing deeply of her sweet scent. She smelled of honeysuckle and goat’s milk. “Evie is the name of a frightened, lonely girl. Evangeline is a beautiful, strong woman. You are Evangeline.”
    Her startled gaze flew to his. “Oh, that’s right! You called me that this morning at the mill when . . .” The color rose to her cheeks and she added breathlessly, “When you rescued me. Thank you.”
    “No thanks are necessary. I was doing my duty.”
    “But how did you know? I mean, what brought you to the mill?”
    Because I need to be near you, pathetic thing that I am. To breathe the air you breathe. To bask in the scent of your skin and the sound of your voice. To know that you are safe.
    “I was following the djegrali.”
    Not entirely a lie. He had sensed something evil stirring.
    “A demon?” She wrinkled her brow. “Oh, I see. You were hunting. Addy’s told me all about the Dalvahni. That’s what you do, isn’t it? Hunt demons, I mean.”
    “Yes.”
    “Lucky for me you were there this morning. Well, thanks again for helping me.”
    “You are most welcome, Evangeline.”
    She lowered her eyes. “H-how do you know my name?”
    “Adara told me.”
    Another falsehood. He knew her name the first time he saw her. It was engraved upon his heart.
    “Of course. I know it’s crazy, but I feel like we’ve had this conversation before.” She darted him a quick, shy glance. “But we’ve never met, right?”
    The truth would not do, but neither could he stomach another lie.
    “Had we met before, I assure you I would not forget you.” He gave her a slow smile infused with his considerable Dalvahni charm. “I, however, appear to be less memorable.”
    She blinked up at him in delightful confusion. “How silly of me! Of course we’ve never met. I would remember, wouldn’t I?”
    “It pleases me to think so.” He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”
    She blushed