Alabaster Nights (The Josie Hawk Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF

overhead. I skid to a stop, my hands already wrapped around the leather hilts of two five-inch blades. One demon is the shade of neon green with two yellow horns jutting at a ninety-degree angle from his forehead. A row of sharp spikes shoots out the length of his spine all the way down to the tip of his eight-foot tail. The other demon is albino. No horns or spikes, but the five pink talons on the end of each of his six feet make my blades look like barely sharpened pencils.
    “Hello, spawn.” I move, light on my feet. “Which of you would like to die first?”
    “ Bloooood ,” they sing in unison.
    Keller races past me.
    “Hey!” I yell. “Stay back and let me do my job.”
    Ignoring me, he jumps about ten feet straight up into the air, comes down spinning, and kicks the demon with horns into the wall. The demon folds into himself, turns, and hisses, sending acidic saliva flying in a wide arc.
    Toxic demon spit hits both of my legs, burns through my jeans, and eats at my skin. “Dammit, Irish.” I’m afraid to look at the damage, but can picture the skin bubbling as searing pain brings me to my knees. I’m going to need more than a Band-Aid this time. The albino demon swipes at me. I arch back and feel the crisp air that accompanies his swing.
    In two quick motions, Keller breaks his demon’s neck, and then grabs the albino by its tail and pulls.
    “ Bloooood .”
    The tail detaches and Keller sails backward, stubby tail in hand. The demon rushes me, maw gaping to expose four rows of razor-sharp teeth. Back on my feet, I jam my blade between the demon’s eyes. He screams, the sound so blood curdling and human-like I pause. His jaws snap closed on my arm, teeth tearing into my flesh and sinking into my bones. White-hot agony sears me. The pain in my leg has nothing on this. I’m pretty sure I’m two seconds from being an amputee. Stars dot my vision and they’re not the ones in the sky. Breathing through the pain, I pull out my blade and slam it into the albino’s skull just behind his ear. When he opens his mouth to scream again, I jump back. Blood flows, running down my arm and dripping from my fingers, the red a sharp contrast to the white snow.
    The demon’s tongue flicks at the ground, tasting my blood.
    I’m about to pass out and that really pisses me off. I shake my head. Focus .
    An inhuman roar rips through the air. Through my blurred vision, I see Keller’s fangs elongate as he positions his body between me and the albino demon. I stumble backward, lose my footing, and sink to the ground. The last thing I see is Keller ripping the head off my demon and provoking my last thought. I can’t believe he just stole my kill.
     
     

-4-
    Death Chooses Sides
    Keller reined in his hunger as best he could and lifted Josie into his arms, supporting her head with his shoulder. He pulled the back of her cloak up and over her legs. That simple action brought a sense of right, a sense of duty. Adjusting his mindset around this new obligation would take some time. If she was indeed truly his mate, then Keller was up for the task. Whatever it took, he would do this right, no matter how hard the ever-swinging pendulum tried to throw him off course.
    With renewed purpose, he intentionally didn’t breathe, but the strong aroma of Josie’s dripping blood called to him anyway. His stomach clenched and knotted like his guts were being squeezed in a vise grip. He carefully closed his lips over his fangs and dragged his hungry gaze away from the red pool of mockery at his feet. Taking her blood would accomplish two things: Give him the strength he desperately needed and confirm she was the one meant for him—his true mate. But taking it now would make him the blood-stealing monster Josie thought him to be. Even though blood had already spilled, it was still hers. He had to prove her wrong—even if it killed him.
    The temperature dropped and the snow fell harder. Keller sensed a dangerous blizzard on the horizon.