Bloodline (Paranormal Romance, Dark & Twisted) Saving Demons Series Book 1

  ****

  I woke when the side of my head thumped against the passenger's window of Addy's new black Mercedes Benz, as she pulled into a po-dunk gas station in the middle of nowhere. She hadn't said a word to me since yesterday morning, after she had explained to me that Barron bought us some property up in the mountains, a few hundred miles or so away from Burling. A house on Snow Melt Lake, she had said, excitedly. But a thin trace of sadness had edged her eyes and it had been there ever since. She was leaving Doug behind. It would only be by a few days, maybe a week, but this was too long for her to have to be separated from him. I couldn't blame her for feeling this way. Doug was a hero. He was my hero, as well as hers. But it was best Addy didn't know this.

  I ignored the probing memory of Doug's odd behavior that night he saved me from Sean. I chalked it up to shock and the fact that my inner longing for Bane to be my hero in the real world had been woven into every fiber of my being, just as my desire and love for Bane will always be.

  Barron had bought the Mercedes for Addy. He had also given her a credit card. I had no idea how much money we now had, but I imagined it was a lot. If I had to say two nice things about Barron, it would be that he loved Addy and that he would have done anything for her. Except, of course, shed his insanity.

  Addy told me to pack only what I would need for a day. Barron had paid for a moving company to do the rest of the work for us. Including the shipping of one forty-one Knucklehead, Harley Davidson, which I was certain had not been Addy's decision. It could have stayed on the side of the highway and rusted away, for all she cared. But for some unknown reason, Barron cared. And he made sure it was shipped to our new home for me on Snow Melt Lake.

  Addy got out of the car to pump the fuel. I couldn't help but nervously look around. The highway was baron. I knew it was only a matter of time before I would turn around and find myself face-to-face with Sean Hylander. Sean had been haunting my dreams. He appeared to me as a copper angel. I chalked this up to being a result of my hungry desperation to dream of Bane, who still refused to come to me in my dreams. I tried to tell myself that this was all right, reminding my self that loving imaginary creatures was not healthy. But then again, neither was being me.

  I dropped my chin, looking down at the old scars that mar the flesh over my wrists. Then I turned my hands, palm-up, to look at the puffy, raised flesh of the scars that were there. I rubbed my thumb over one of them and laughed. I had no idea what was so funny, really.

  My laughter was short lived, as I realized that about 70% of my body was scarred and only about 20% of those scars were my own doing.

  There was something seriously wrong with me.

  And I wasn't the only one who knew this. Even Dammon knew this. He had acted so strangely when I told him what my last name was. Guenevere knew something was wrong with me too, and she hadn't even met me. Sean had implied I did not know who I really am. He said that I was a warrior. Sure, I was feisty and whatnot, but a warrior? For real?

  I guess that's something I could live with, I thought to myself.

  "Warrior freak," I said.

  Addy knew stuff, too. She wasn't telling me something. There were probably a lot of somethings Addy was not telling me. When we were packing our bags to leave Burling, I had sensed her urgency, as if she believed moving me away would keep me safe from something. She didn't know about Sean Hylander and the way he treated me. At least, I didn't think she knew. No, there was something else that made her in such a hurry to leave.

  But none of this mattered right now, though. Some other time I would figure out who I was and put the mysterious pieces of my life together. For now, I would spend this three-day journey to our new home in complete and utter thoughtlessness.

  I closed my eyes, silently begging for Bane to come for me. I was sick. Bane-deprivation was going to be the death of me. I was sure of this!

  If Sean wasn't the death of me first.

  My innards were so disquieted, so disgruntled because of this malnourishment that I could hardly sit still in my seat. I would not find the solace I sought. Not ever.

  Not until I could be with Bane once again.

  ****

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Luna