Read Demon Moon for Free Online

the venom.
    Like blowing up a balloon, Savi . A wet, cold, disgusting balloon.
    Screams rang in her ears. The hand fell away from her shoulder as paralysis set into the creature—maybe it would be enough. It would have to be; it was all she could do.
    She ran. A passenger managed to grab her skirt—but he couldn’t hold on. That was the thing about momentum and velocity: it often won despite good intentions.
    Locking the door was unnecessary, but she did anyway. Nosferatu blood covered her chin, was in her mouth, her throat. She gagged and spat into the sink, splashed at her face. Her right arm and her fingers were numb. Nani sat on the commode and quietly sobbed into her hands.
    Savi smiled weakly, forcing out her words through the chattering of her teeth, the sudden shivering that had overtaken her body. “A surgeon? A neurosurgeon. Ivy League. Fair-skinned. Tall and handsome.”
    But not too handsome.

    “…so…beautiful…” The blonde moaned the words as she came. The third woman that night, but he could not stop drinking. A dull ring in his ears—his cell phone, Colin realized dimly. Lilith.
    He didn’t want to know. Neither Selah nor Michael had been in Caelum; the fledgling Guardian Lilith had sent had been forced to wait until one of them had returned. It had taken more than an hour and a quarter before the fledgling alerted Selah. Colin had flipped on the television once, only to hear of “Terror in the Skies.”
    Then he’d left to hunt.
    He broke away and pushed the sleep onto her. She fell limp, unconscious in his arms. He sliced his lip and mixed his blood with hers to heal the punctures. He’d almost taken too much, but she was strong, young. She’d recover quickly.
    He let her slide to the linoleum floor in a boneless, quivering heap. Her groceries still sat on the counter. He paused to inhale the scent of oranges, then shoved the bags into the refrigerator and carried her to her bedroom. A nice, tidy flat. A moderately intelligent woman, but she shouldn’t have invited a stranger up, no matter how lonely she was, nor how handsome and strong and helpful he’d seemed.
    She’d not learn a lesson from it, however; she’d forget him by the morning. Or, at best, remember him as a very pleasant—and very beautiful—dream. Perhaps she’d question the haphazard placement of the groceries in the refrigerator, but she’d never think a vampire had fed from her in that kitchen.
    No, she’d likely blame her job, or her exhaustion, or tell herself she was being fanciful.
    Small wonder they needed the Guardians’ protection.
    He pulled her blankets over her; she sighed and rocked her hips against the mattress. He contemplated waking her, but he’d indulged that lust with the first woman.
    And it was not bloodlust that had driven him to the third.
    His phone rang again as he walked through the living room. A mirror hung over the sofa. He’d closed his eyes and refused to listen when he’d passed it before, loaded down like a footman. Now he stared into it. Perhaps the screams would drown out Lilith’s voice when he answered her call. She wouldn’t hear them, though she was no stranger to their like.
    “Yes, Agent Milton?”
    “I’m not going to kill you after all. I need a favor.”
    “Do you?”
    In the mirror, a human body was devoured, torn apart by a flying beast. The human’s face remained, frozen into the glacial sky, shrieking.
    Chaos.
    “Damage control. I’m flying to New York with Michael; Hugh’s there with Selah, and she’s ready to jump in, but we need her back as soon as possible. That means you have to handle…Colin, what the fuck is wrong with you? You should have asked me to call you beautiful by now.”
    “I was feeding,” he said, his voice flat.
    “And her declarations were enough? That’s revolting. Listen, I need you to take Savi out, let her be seen by as many people as possible. Preferably a cop or two, as well. Auntie, you can leave at home with Sir