Deliver Me from Darkness: A Novel of the Paladin Warriors Read Online Free PDF Page A

doll and he the puppeteer. He twisted her right arm up behind her in a locking hold. At the same time his other hand dived under the hem of her short dress.
    “My, my.” He smiled. “Thong. Aren’t we a bad girl?”
    The heady mix of sweat, fear, and lust filled the alley below. Roland could barely think, so strong was the call of those scents. He hissed, his fangs slicing into his lips. His nails dug into the brick façade of the building. A slick pool of anticipation slid down the back of his throat. The muscles of his legs tightened.
    The man would pay, and the girl? Well, a nice scare should put an end to her partying days.
    Roland leapt.

Chapter 3
     
    “Seven twenty. Cutting it close, weren’t you?”
    Calhoun stood at the end of the hall silhouetted by the dim glow of recessed lighting in the great room, a steaming mug of coffee in his hand.
    Roland couldn’t disagree with his friend. Close didn’t begin to cut it. He could still feel the burning kiss of the sun on the back of his neck. Everything had taken longer than expected, and his hope that the heavy cloud cover from last night’s storm would buy him extra time had been misplaced.
    Taking care of the woman’s would-be rapist had proven difficult. The man’s mind, though foul, had been strong. It had been tempting to just suck him dry and be done with it. It certainly would have been a much simpler solution to the scum’s addiction to blood and fear. It was only because Roland could understand that addiction that he hadn’t killed the man outright. Blood, fear, lust—the same cravings Roland had suffered from in those initial months after his turning. Still did. Time, and the thought of Calhoun’s disapproval were he to slip, kept Roland in line. The man from the back alley had no such control and, it would appear, no desire or reason to alter his violent ways. Nope, Roland’s black-hearted donor du jour was going to require a couple more visits before the new lessons on ethics fully took.
    I really should have sucked him dry. Pain in the ass is going to be an understatement for the foul-minded bastard. Disgusted, Roland stalked down the hall, burrowing deeper into the lead-lined walls of his refuge.
    Calhoun lifted an eyebrow, a silent comment on Roland’s dark mood, but wisely offered up the mug when Roland neared.
    Roland grabbed it and, taking a long sip, held the bitter warmth on his tongue. That vampires didn’t have to eat was a truth, one he was fully aware of when he indulged and the meal sat solid in his gut before plowing a path through his system. Didn’t stop him from having his morning coffee, though, or the occasional evening scotch. Liquid wasn’t so hard on his system as the sporadic meal he suffered through for form’s sake; besides, his taste buds hadn’t died when his body had the first time.
    “So what kept you?” Calhoun asked.
    Roland swallowed, savoring the punch of caffeine. Another perk: caffeine in the morning and alcohol at night. His body absorbed what it could from whatever he ingested almost immediately. The effects were instantaneous and powerful. However, unlike the lasting power he consumed from the blood, both caffeine and alcohol faded as quickly as the original punch, making it possible for him to nod off or fully function minutes later.
    “Your place is crawling with vamps,” he answered between sips. “Or was, I should say. The few I missed would’ve had to go home for the day, as I did.”
    “Damn.” Calhoun ran his hands through his hair. “Why do they want her?”
    Roland gave Calhoun a hard look. Innocent woman plus power equaled a feast for the undead. Calhoun might not have been aware of the first bit, but the latter he probably knew by now.
    Calhoun’s gaze shifted down the hall toward the closed bedroom panel. “Shit. When I said she was special—”
    “You didn’t mean that.” Roland cut Calhoun off before he could go into detail. He didn’t want to hear his friend waxing