Read Online Blood Hunt by Shannon K. Butcher - Free Book Online

needs you. I need you.” She dusted off her hands. “Speaking of which, I need to go and check on dinner. We’ll have a big crowd tonight.”
    “I’ll be down to help in a minute.”
    Sister Olive patted her shoulder. “You take your time. I know how much you miss the sun, and we don’t have much of it this time of year. Enjoy it while it lasts.”
    Sister Olive left. Hope stripped out of her sweatshirt and let the sun soak into her skin. The tank top she wore was thin, allowing the delicious heat to slide over her.
    The smell of basil and soil filled her nose, calming her nerves. Everything was fine. She’d find Rory tonight and give her hell for scaring her like that.
    Hope lounged there, soaking up the warmth until the sun disappeared behind the surrounding buildings. She felt better now that she’d had some time to herself. She hadn’t once thought of Logan while she was here. Or that monster.
    All was well in her world once again. She was safe, strong, and ready to finish off her duties for the day.
    The dinner rush went by fast. Hope packed her bag full of sandwiches and blankets and was ready to hit the streets in search of Rory.
    She stopped at the door, turning back to duck into the kitchen. She found the biggest, sharpest knife she could and added it to her bag. Just in case.
     
    Iain slid his blade from the dead Synestryn and searched the tunnel for more. He’d come here to this nest to find the one kind of demon none of his Theronai brothers could fight: Synestryn with the faces of children.
    Even though Iain’s soul was long dead, he could still remember what it had felt like to have one. He knew that there had been a time when the thought of slaying such a creature would have turned his stomach. But no longer.
    He stared down at the dead abomination. It may have had the face of a child, but that was where the resemblance ended. It was fast, with six spindly, claw-tipped legs. It had been able to cling to the ceiling of the cave before propelling itself toward Iain for the kill.
    He held up his sleeve, looking through the holes that thing’s teeth had left in his leather jacket—teeth strong enough to bite through the magical wards meant to protect him.
    No, that thing was no more an innocent child than he was. But if he was the only one of his kind who could see that, then so be it. Everyone needed a reason to get up in the morning. Killing baby demons was his.
    He’d push through the rest of this system of tunnels tonight, then head for the next one. Same ol’, same ol’.
     
    Ava’s guards heard the commotion coming from down the corridor, and for the first time in what seemed like decades, she was left alone.
    The chittering speech of the insectlike monsters who had held her captive grew louder, as it always did when they called more of their own kind.
    She didn’t have much time, and she was going to use every second of it to get herself out of this place.
    The rough rock tunnels that were a maze to her when she’d first been brought here were now easy to navigate. Unfortunately, the only way out was down the tunnel, the way her guards had gone.
    Fear had been a part of her for so long she almost failed to recognize a difference in the pounding of her heart as her bare feet slapped against the dirt floor. Little rocks dug into her skin, but she didn’t slow for fear she’d miss her one chance for escape.
    Her lungs burned from the unusual exertion, and she had to hold her round belly so it didn’t feel like it was going to be ripped from her body with every hurried step. The weight of her pregnancy slowed her down too much, but that was probably what her guards had counted on.
    Ava cleared a corner and nearly ran headlong into combat. She skidded to a halt, grabbing the wall of the cave to steady herself.
    One man stood in the center of a thick ring of monsters—both the ones who guarded her as well as the smaller, feral ones that looked human from the neck up.
    Ava knew better than