Howler's Night Read Online Free PDF Page A

finally breathe normally. Not in the mood to be bothered anymore, I rested my face on my fists and stared absentmindedly at the chalkboard menu in front of me. So many thoughts tumbled against one another in my mind.
    But the only one I could seem to focus on was why I didn’t smell any food.
    It was weird—the place billed itself as a diner of sorts from the outside, and yet nothing about it looked like one. It definitely reminded me of a bar, but though Windsor knot guy was drying a cup, I’d yet to see anyone actually order a drink.
    I felt the press of his eyes on me every now and then, but I didn’t return the look. The adrenaline from before had started to wear off, I was so tired, and the sound of light rainfall hitting the tin roof became white noise that lulled me into something like a trance.
    It probably wasn’t safe to pass out there, but I had nothing on me. In fact, if they wanted to throw me out, they probably could. I was riffraff, and most places didn’t have time for people like me.
    My eyelids were just beginning to droop when the front door was thrown open, letting in a blast of cold air. I didn’t turn around, but all the fine hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stood on edge.
    The buzzing of talk ceased, and I tightened my jaw. I was at war with myself; curiosity made me want to turn, but again that small voice inside me screamed, telling me not to look because I smelled a scent I vaguely recognized—sandalwood and the musk of darkest night.
    It was a smell I craved with every molecule that lived and breathed inside me. But I kept still and closed my eyes. Then a large, warm hand clamped down on my shoulder and a man’s voice whispered in my ear.
    “I’ve found you, little demon.”
    And for a split second I couldn’t describe the overwhelming feeling of joy that ignited through my blood, the desire to wrap my arms around his neck and breathe in his smell, tell him I needed him.
    I couldn’t even remember his name, but I knew him. I slowly lifted my hand, ready to caress the side of his bristled jaw. The man looked tired. There were shadows under his eyes, but a fire burned deep inside them too. He wore a small smile, and I could swear he seemed happy to see me.
    I opened my mouth, ready to whisper the words trapped in my soul. But I should have heeded that voice that told me not to turn and look, because the second I touched his skin and felt the shivers take him, my mind went blank and only one word slipped from my tongue.
    “ Kill .”
    ~*~
    Asher
    F inally my demon was back within arm’s reach, and the muscles in my thighs and back couldn’t stop twitching with the desire to hold her, to assure myself that after nearly a year, she was here with me again.
    Once I’d spotted her last night, it’d taken me hours to pinpoint her location because she’d been on the move. But I did, and it was hard for me to accept that this was reality and not some nightmare I was bound to wake up from.
    But each second that passed assured me this was the real thing.
    Pandora was a little worse for wear maybe—her feet were muddy, and cuffs shackled her wrists—but it could have been so, so much worse. I knew she’d heal. I leaned in and whispered to her that I’d found her. My heart was so heavy it felt like it would burst.
    I had followed this woman around the world for centuries, always keeping an eye on her, knowing deep in my dark heart that she belonged to me. And no matter the time or distance that separated us, I would always find her. Pandora was mine and I was hers.
    Finally she turned to look at me, and I wanted to touch her, but I didn’t know what they’d done to her. I still sensed the wrongness that laced her essence. But she was smiling up at me and reaching out to caress the side of my face, and I forgot my caution.
    Only she had the power to make me do that.
    But then a flicker of inky black flashed through her eyes, and the smile she wore died.
    “Pandora?” I turned my