A Demon's Desire Read Online Free PDF Page B

sure he could control the darkness
within him, he’d do whatever he could to alleviate the sisters’
pain. “Did Sissy tell you about her nightmares?”
    “She said there was a man by her bed, a dark
man with snow clouds. She was afraid of him, but I didn’t
understand why exactly. She said he just stood there and watched
her. He wanted her to go somewhere, but she didn’t want to go.”
    A knot of understanding sank into his
stomach.
    “Emma came back two weeks ago from a business
trip. I thought … I was too tired to think much, but she heard
Sissy talk about her dreams, and she acted really weird. Wouldn’t
go into her bedroom even when Sissy asked for her. I yelled at her.
We were both stressed, but she actually cried. I’ve never seen Emma
cry, and she’s-- we’ve-- been through a lot. She’s been working so
hard to find someone to help.” Amber paused then added drowsily,
“Emma and Sissy are so much alike. They have the same hair and are
afraid of the dark.”
    Tristan leaned his hips against the counter
across from her, watching. The tea was taking effect, and tension
eased from the slender woman’s frame.
    “Go rest.”
    “Mama will be here in a bit,” she said in a
thin voice as she rose. “Make yourself at home. Em never brings
people to meet us, especially not boyfriends. You must be
special.”
    “We’ll talk more when you wake up.” His eyes
followed her shape until the door to her room closed. He returned
to Sissy’s room and took in the patches of shadows. Emma was hiding
something from her sister and him. There was more to her than he
expected, but had the darkness within him not warned him of
such?
    He stepped into the room, at once inundated
with hot and cold as shadows and darkness were propelled to him
like paperclips to a magnet. He paused a few feet from the bed and
let the darkness acclimate to him. He hesitated, then let the
darkness within him enough freedom to greet the evil in the room to
keep it from targeting him next. He shuddered in uneasy pleasure as
the two essences merged.
    Welcome, Tristan. The voice was so
soft, he barely heard it. His body recognized this darkness, though
he didn’t know how. He moved forward slowly once again, feeling the
shadows swirl around him like a soft night breeze. He sat on the
bed and touched the girl’s clammy forehead with a steady hand. Her
breathing was shallow and uneven, her body laboring.
    It was evil that afflicted her. The shadows
that clung to the teddy bear in the box Emma carried had also crept
into the little girl’s body. Removing them wouldn’t be hard for
him. Ridding the room and apartment would take more time, unless he
could identify what object in the apartment had been tagged by
evil. The shadows were guided to their target by something touched
by a curse, and he needed to find whatever that was. This was no
accident. Emma had known enough to know she needed to seek out
someone like him. He couldn’t help feeling she had a few things to
explain.
    “Hello?” a cheerful voice called out.
    Tristan shook off the shadows and strode to
the door. An older woman with fluffed brown hair highlighted with
silver and Emma’s stunning green eyes behind large glasses entered
the apartment. Her smile brightened as she saw him, and he waited
for her to recoil in the usual horror people displayed when they
first met him. She hesitated and then crossed the room with her
hand extended.
    “You must be Tristan,” she said.
    “Yes, ma’am,” he said, surprised she’d
approached him.
    “Call me Mama. The girls introduce me to
everyone as Mama,” she said and studied him. There was intelligence
behind the shining eyes, and Tristan suspected she was assessing
him even as she smiled. She would’ve seen and felt his darkness
like everyone else did. Instead of running away screaming, Mama’s
eyes went to Sissy’s room. “Is Amber …”
    “Resting,” he supplied.
    “Good. Don’t think she’s slept in a couple of
weeks.