Eternal Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page B

them. That I tried, but I couldn’t.”
    Toni shook the tears from her eyes as 8-Ball slowly faded away, only to be replaced by unwanted memories that stretched and distorted in her mind. She saw herself staring at the television in her old apartment, saw her own face twist in horror as something red streaked across the screen then landed with a sick, wet thud in the center of a familiar table. The table she used to eat at when she was little. The table her family used to sit at, in a house once filled with more unconditional love than she’d ever found anywhere else, or since the day she’d left.
    She heard her brother and sister scream when the thing on the table moved. Listened to Ray and Isabel cry for help as blood sprayed all over them and everything else in the room. They’d never sounded so scared, never looked more terrified…until he stepped in front of the camera.
    She would never forget Oktober’s swirling black eyes. Never forget watching him sink his fangs into her mother’s heart. Never ever be able to forget what followed, or the sound of her own sister moaning his name.
    Toni snapped back to the present at the sound of 8-Ball’s voice. She stared blindly at the wavering figure standing in front of her. “I only went after Stryker because of the note,” she breathed. “Oktober said to thank her for the address. I didn’t know him. I didn’t even know where to start looking for him. But I knew I could find her…I wanted to find her.” She blinked away a fresh round of tears. “Maybe I did the wrong thing that night. Maybe I overreacted. But if it was your family she sold out, if it was your brother…would you have done any different?”
    This time when 8-Ball rested his hands on her shoulders, she didn’t move. “It’s not that I don’t care about you or what you’ve been through, Toni. But Brick’s my Sire, and he’s risking a hell of a lot by letting you back in without Locke’s permission. Do you really blame him for trying to make sure you’ve thought this through? If you were him, would you do any different?”
    Toni tried hard to push her own pain aside for a moment and put herself in Brick’s shoes. She did her best to imagine how difficult the situation must be for him, considering what she’d asked could very well get him and his Children permanently banned from the city, or worse.
    Would she do the same if the roles were reversed? Would she risk the only home she’d ever known to help a friend?
    She’d like to think she would. She’d like to believe she’d do anything to help someone she cared about. But she also had to admit that she’d probably be just as determined to make that friend think about what they were asking, even if it meant taking them back to the very place everything went so horribly wrong.
    “I don’t blame him.” She tipped her head back and looked up at 8-Ball. “I just wish I could go straight to Locke instead of getting you and Brick involved. If this whole plan blows up, I’d rather it explode in my face – not yours. The last thing I want is someone else to get hurt because of me.”
    “Hey, we made the choice to get involved.” He lowered his hands from her shoulders and rubbed her arms. “When you first called, we could’ve told you where to find Lord Locke, just like you asked. We also could’ve stood back and watched you waltz right up to his front door.” He flashed a devious grin. “God knows the look on his face would’ve been priceless.”
    “You know, you and Brick could wash your hands of me right now if you’d just tell me where he lives.” Though she didn’t truly feel it, she offered him her sweetest smile then sang the words, “It’s not too late to give Mr. Fancy Pants a panic attack.”
    8-Ball burst out laughing. “Oh, it’s tempting, it’s damn tempting, but that man would kick my ass if he found out I told you where he lives. A little known fact about Mr. FP, or the Armani Avenger, as I like to call him,