Beauty and the Beast (Demon Tales 1) Read Online Free PDF

mind, red-skinned beasts
with yellow eyes, like the ones she had seen loitering in the
caves, danced in her head.
    The demon watched for a moment, and then
headed to the door and peeked through the gap in the woodwork. He
was so cool and calm it was unnerving.
    “It’s ok, human, it’s my brother.”
    Relief was a cold wash over her body, until
she realized that his brother would probably be just as
scary as him. His big hand fell on the door handle, and Cally spoke
before she had a chance to think.
    “Wait!” Sitting up on her knees, still
clutching the blankets, Cally swallowed back her fear and spoke
again. “Uh… uh, please tell me why I’m here.” His dark eyes held
her captive. Cally wanted to sink back into the bed until she
disappeared, until she turned into feathers and dust, but her need
to know what was to happen to her made her hold his stare—his
intensely unnerving stare..
    “Little human, I will not hurt you.”
    Although his words were clipped and gruff,
Cally heard a sincere note that gave her pause. Something popped
inside her chest and a surge of relief filled her lungs. Though it
was probably foolish, she believed him. The calm quiet of the beast
was as reassuring as it was scary, his intense eye-contact,
although unnerving, was honest. Cally couldn’t deny that her mind
quieted under his attention. Still clutching the blankets, she held
her breath as he pulled open the door and allowed his brother to
enter the cabin.
    If she had thought that the first demon was
deadly, then this one was savage. Eyes the colour of liquid amber
fell on her as he stalled in mid-stride. Cally watched with wide
eyes as the demon glared at her coldly. She wanted to run, to hide,
anything to remove his hateful gaze from her. She sunk back to the
wall and pulled the bed sheets higher.
     
    * * * *
     
    “What is it, Torc?” Brigg asked, trying to
break the tension in the room. He could tell that the little human
was petrified by his brother. Her wide eyes and trembling hands
made her look impossibly young and innocent, and Brigg just wanted
to scoop her up and hold her. But he wouldn’t, he wasn’t a
fool.
    Torc was not exactly helping matters,
glaring at the little rabbit as if she was the one who had cursed
them.
    Brigg placed a strong hand on his brother’s
shoulder and brought Torc’s attention back to him. Those damn
annoying protective urges were goading him again.
    She had been unconscious for nearly four
hours, and Brigg had never felt so tense. Watching her breaths and
reassuring himself that she was well had been his only activity in
all the time she slept. When she had stirred into life, relief had
been a punch right to his solar plexus. It was insane. Brigg had
wanted to grin when she had turned those cornflower-blue eyes on
him, even if they had held anger and fear— Hell, he was more than
used to that by now.
    Not wanting to analyze his feelings too
much, Brigg turned his attention back to his brother. “So what
happened?” Brigg frowned. Torc was usually the lighthearted one,
the brother who laughed everything off. But standing in front of
Brigg now, Torc was fidgety.
    “You have really fucked up, Brigg—big time.”
Torc threw a disgusted look over his shoulder at the human, making
Brigg’s temper flare.
    “Eyes forward,” Brigg growled, as his mood
turned black and his body buzzed with adrenaline. His inner animal
did not like Torc glaring at the human. Shit, neither did the human
part of him. This was all kinds of messed up. He waited for Torc to
turn his attention back to him and asked, “What happened?”
    “Helki is pissed off.”
    “Yeah, I guessed that much.”
    “No. I mean, really pissed off, Brigg.” Torc
tuned to the human and pointed at her, making her look up
wide-eyed. She whimpered. Brigg had to catch himself before he
jerked his brother’s arm away. His anger flared, forcing him to
grind his teeth against the blinding need to batter his brother.
Torc went on, “She