Demon Chained (Shadowfae Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Fascinating."
    I know better than to take his bait. "Yeah, well, I'm all fascinated out, mate. Can it wait?" The demon lord of Melbourne and he's wearing a fucking suit, for God's sake, with a shiny purple tie and golden cufflinks, like he works in a bank, or something. And he's drinking alcopops again. He has a thing about green drinks, the more sickly-sweet the better.
    But he doesn't fool me with his naïve metrosexual act. Fact is, he doesn't need to wear leather and bike chains or drink double scotch neat to make his point. The Kane I know has flaming blue hair to his waist, skin like burnt toast and long pincushion teeth, and believe me when I tell you he has all the vile horrors of hell at his fingertips.
    Wake-up call to self: the teeth should have been a giveaway. Next time, don't promise your soul to a guy with teeth like a blackwater eel.
    He lifts a soft blond eyebrow at my attitude, and humidity shimmers with his mood, dampening my skin. Condensation beads on the glass bar, and he shifts his elbow in distaste. "I've a job for you, Tam. Are you busy?"
    A fist of dismay squeezes my lethargic heart into spasm. I don't know for sure how long this crumbling body of mine will last. Whippy Turd still isn't dead, and you don't just walk up and whack a weird-ass crime boss like Joey DiLuca. It takes planning, deviant thinking, weeks of wicked sly fuckery. I don't have time for Kane's shit.
    Besides, I've got my night all planned out. Whatever Kane wants, I'm not in the mood.
    But he fixes me in that mild black stare, and I should just walk away, but somehow I can't, and my limbs judder with dread. I sigh, my mouth sticky with salt. "What? Just say it, okay?"
    Kane smiles, revealing perfect white human teeth. Liar. "In the smoke girl's bag, there's a lamp. A brass one. With a lid."
    I knew it'd be something petty and humiliating. He's playing with me, like he has all along. I think it amuses him to watch me rot. "You're shitting me. Lamp? As in, Aladdin-and-his-magic? Come off it, Kane, you can do better than that."
    His fingernails gouge the label on his bottle, sharpening into mottled claws. "She has a lamp. I want it. Don't ask questions."
    Like why don't you get it yourself, you smug asshole?
    I follow his gaze into the dim crowd, and there she is. Slender neck, tight limbs, a cute pointy chin, locking those sexy blue lips with some hot blond kid. He's got a great ass, legs long and lean in torn jeans, but it's she who seduces my eye. She shimmies her lithe body like a black-sheathed serpent. Now I'm staring, and not just at her legs. There's perfect abandon in the way she tosses her inky hair, stretches those supple white arms and moves her body to feel his skin on hers. Even her breathing is deliberate, like she's feeling every muscle fiber separately. She smiles into their kiss, enjoying every second of it, and warmth ripples under my skin, slow but definite. Something pricks at my stomach, too, soft little claws of discomfort.
    Just a sec . . . yep. That's envy, all right. When I was alive, I could have had a woman like that. Maybe. If I got really lucky.
    I search for this bag Kane's on about, and there it is, black and square behind her hip, the thick strap slung over the opposite shoulder.
    I used to be a thief, among other things, before I died and got clumsy. B & E was more my style, but in this crowd I can snatch her no problem. Could be a lamp in there, I suppose, the bag looks big enough.
    Whatever. Screw it. I'll do it right now, and then maybe Kane will leave me alone for a few days and I can get back to Whippy Turd and his kidnap-happy mates. Besides, look where that bag is. Maybe I can cop a feel.
    Did I really just think that? You're a fucking class act, Tam. "Okay. When ya want it?"
    Kane slurps his drink, deliberate. "Tomorrow will do."
    Heh. Fooled ya. "It's after midnight already. Gives me an extra day."
    But she's already leaving, shoving people aside and practically dragging the new love of her