TheBrokenOrnament Read Online Free PDF

her faint. After all, he could have told the woman to say she’d come from a faraway place. Even if he hadn’t, her accent would have pegged her as a northerner…had she spoken. Cherie bit her lip as the woman continued.
    “She has traveled across time and space, through a dimensional rift into the world where her true love awaits.” She paused with a frown. “Here she will have a new life, a new love, a new sister.” With that, the woman opened her eyes and stared at Cherie while the dragon, or whatever it was, hopped back up onto the umbrella. The creature breathed fire on the metal piece between the rod and the material and settled on the glowing rod with a groan.
    “Miss Gardner, you have been given a second chance.” She looked around and lowered her voice. “Your new love is a vampire, but he would never harm you.” She gave Hunter a telling look before turning her attention back to Cherie. “Treat him well. He would die for you.”
    “This is ridiculous!” Cherie turned to leave.
    “Samri!”
    With that one word, the dragon came back to life, flew down and landed on Cherie’s shoulder. As soon as the dragon pressed his hot nose against her cheek, Cherie saw everything he supposedly had seen.
    Hunter stood before her, his eyes glowing red as he positioned himself between her and danger. A shot rang out and a bullet lodged deep in his chest. He went down, but not before he lashed out and killed the man who would have killed her and Kaylee.
    A new sister. Hope blossomed in her chest as she repeated the woman’s words to herself. A new sister. Could what the woman said be true? Could this really be a dragon on her shoulder, could she really have jumped from on reality to another and could her sister really be alive here in this world,or was she just so depressed that her mind made all of this up to make her feel better for a while?
    What about what she’d said about a new lover? Was Hunter the vampire the woman talked about? If so, why did she call him a vampire? Everyone knew that vampires couldn’t go out in the sunlight. He should at least be inside, if not in some sort of coffin or crypt. Besides, there was no such thing as vampires.
    Just like there’s no such thing as inter-dimensional travel and dragons, Cherie. Wake up! Reaching up, she pinched herself hard.
    The woman laughed. “If you wanted to know if you were awake, I could have had Samri bite you.” She shrugged. “Or burn you. Either of those would convince you that you are very much awake, Cherie.”
    “This can’t be happening.” She looked at Hunter who now looked at her strangely.
    “Why aren’t you screaming?”
    “Why should I?”
    “You have a dragon sitting on your shoulder eyeing your ear as though it would make a tasty snack.” He smiled. “I wouldn’t make any sudden moves if I were you. I hear they like the taste of burnt cartilage.”
    “Samri, leave the lady alone now. She is not your snack. I shall give you another marshmallow if you behave.”
    The dragon growled and sniffed at Cherie’s ear before it jumped back onto the cold umbrella rod. Again, it breathed fire onto it and moaned as it curled up on the red-hot spot.
    There was no doubt in Cherie’s mind that the dragon was real, now. Not only had it somehow shown her life before she came here, but it had shown her what was to come. If what she had seen was true, the utterly gorgeous man before her would be the love of her life…even if he was a bloodsucking fiend from hell.

Chapter Eight
    Hunter almost choked when he read Cherie’s thoughts. Whatever gave people the idea that vampires were any different from them? Other than their dietary habits, vampires were very similar to humans.
    No one was sure how they deviated when they evolved. They weren’t cursed as far as he knew—other than they were cursed with longevity and living alone until they could find a vampire or human that was compatible with them in every way.
    Human’s could love and breed