Read Judgement 8 (Subject Alpha #1) for Free Online Page B

practically merged into one. “What the fuck?”
    I clumsily pulled myself upright, holding onto the back of the sofa to steady myself. I was embarrassed, not just by his rejection but with how easily I had let him take me.
    I remained silent as I stumbled over to the bed, snatched up the throw and flung it at him before I pulled back the duvet and slipped inside, turning my back on him and telling him in no uncertain terms that it was bedtime . . . alone.
    He grumbled something under his breath, something like, ‘Women. Can’t fucking work ’em out,’ and then huffed and turned off the light, plunging the room into darkness. He stumbled back to the sofa, grunting and bringing a satisfied smile to my lips when he banged into the table and let out a string of profanities.
    Arsehole.

 
    “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
    Her back remained to me. Her head was snapped to one side, her ear resting on her shoulder as she stared out through the window into the night. The room was cool but the long shirt of mine she slept in clung to her back with the amount of sweat pouring from her.
    “Elina?”
    “There’s a storm coming.” The way she spoke, so quiet and flat, made the hairs on the back of my neck rise, my enhanced senses on alert.
    Taking a step closer I noticed how tightly her fists were clenched. Her nails had embedded into the soft flesh of her palm so deep I was amazed she wasn’t bleeding. The tiny hairs in my ears picked up the vibrations of her body. She hummed, the entirety of her pulsating with a sharp, almost suffocating energy.
    My eyes snapped to the window when a bolt of lightning shot across the darkness, the white streak spreading across the sky in a line. I didn’t like the way it appeared to change direction, my frown deepening when it jolted and snapped, sensing a new target and shifting. It was only due to my superior eyesight that I had noticed its alteration, its impulsive reach for us . . . for Elina; its mistress.
    My eyes slowly moved back to Elina as my heart forgot to beat. “Fuck!”
    “There’s a storm coming, Reid.” Her whisper was cold, deadly.
    I looked around the room, my eyes scanning for something I could use to wrap around her. Knowing it was pointless, I snatched up the blanket I’d been sleeping under and took a deep breath.
    She was still and pliant as I slid the soft wool around her shoulders and lifted her carefully into my arms. Her body was tiny and soft, her pretty face pale and covered in a mass of freckles. She was feather-light; I tucked her against me, despite the pain of holding her. I ignored how good she felt against me, the subtle smell of lilies and fresh dew, and concentrated on the pain. My teeth throbbed and I clamped them together to ride through it. The energy pulsing from her crackled loudly, a heat so intense I was surprised the blanket didn’t burst into flames when it touched the glow of her skin.
    “Fuck!” I cried out when my muscles screamed out in pain. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I sucked in a breath. The agony from simply being near her was almost unbearable but I knew if I didn’t get her downstairs we were fucked.
    Another streak lit the sky, then another, and another. Multiple flashes burst in sequence towards us, their power making night appear like day.
    Elina’s eyes closed. The sky lit up. The lights flickered on and off so rapidly that everything around me materialised in sporadic succession, my furniture blinking at me as I ran through the room.
    Her head snapped back and she released a long moan as I took to the stairs, jumping down them two at a time. “Hold on, little girl.” The pain on her face was torturous as she let out the most agonising scream, the intensity of her pain making me wince. “Hold on!”
    She jolted, her body twitching manically under the blanket. I punched in the code for the training area door and nearly laughed in delight when it swung open quickly. “Elina? You need to control it. Take hold of it.”
    She