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

to sacrifice a few to artificial happiness than to allow the fall of mankind.
    At least that’s what he told himself as he set out to do what he knew he must. This was war, whether the humans knew it or not. And in war, there were sacrifices.
    He just wished that the woman who’d saved his life didn’t have to be one of them.
     
    Hope saw no sign of Rory or any of the missing men as she searched the streets. None of the people she’d come to know had seen Rory. She hadn’t been to the local convenience stores or any of the other shelters in town. It was as if she’d just vanished.
    The police weren’t concerned. Rory lived on the streets. They assured her that people like Rory moved around. And without a last name, Hope couldn’t even file a proper missing person’s report. The best they could do was take down her contact information and let her know if anyone matching Rory’s description turned up in jail. Or in a morgue.
    With that image firmly in Hope’s vivid imagination, she gathered her courage to go back to the building she hated so much—the one she was certain had somehow eaten her past.
    Not that a building could do such a thing. But it stood there, mocking her, taunting the edges of her mind with memories she could almost grasp. Like a fleck in her vision, as soon as she turned to look at it, it darted away, slipping out of reach.
    Hope clutched a flashlight in her gloved hand and marched around the Tyler building to the back where the overhead door had been busted out. Someone had screwed a sheet of plywood over the opening to keep trespassers out.
    She peered through the small window of the employee entrance, shining her flashlight inside. There was no giant monster corpse lying there, only an oily stain on the concrete. The only other proof of the battle was the fallen stack of pallets and the scuff marks in the dust coating the floor.
    Hope twisted the doorknob. Locked. Of course.
    She felt a subtle heat caress her nape a moment before she heard a low, cultured voice. “It’s awfully cold to be out alone on a night like this.”
    Hope whirled around, lifting her flashlight to strike.
    Logan stood there, ten feet away, well out of range. His arms were crossed over his wide chest, and his pale eyes narrowed in speculation.
    Her heart pounded so hard she was sure he could hear it. “What are you doing here?” she asked.
    “Looking for you.” He stared up at the building. “I didn’t think I’d find you here. Not after last night.”
    Last night. When he’d killed the monster and done . . . something to her. She could still feel his lips on her throat, moving as if kissing her.
    Hope’s hand strayed to the spot and one side of Logan’s mouth lifted in amusement.
    “So you do remember,” he said as he took a step forward. It had been only one step, but somehow, he was within reach, so close she could touch.
    He was so beautiful. Wickedly so. The kind of man that made a woman’s mind grind to a halt and her body go languid with need. His aura was bright, almost blinding, swirling with colors she’d never seen before. She didn’t know how to interpret it, but it hardly mattered so long as she could keep staring at the movement of rainbows dancing around him.
    The sensuous curve of his mouth promised delight. The sharp angle of his jaw and his high cheekbones cast loving shadows across his face and throat. They drew her gaze in, daring her to reach out a hand and touch. Even his silky, dark hair called to her, begging her to slide her fingers close to his scalp and drag his mouth where she wanted it most. She wasn’t even entirely sure where that was, though she could imagine the fun she’d have finding out.
    Not that she was going to do any of that. She wasn’t. But a girl could dream, and Logan was definitely the stuff of dreams. “My memory isn’t exactly trustworthy. I’ve learned not to pay any attention to it.”
    That news made an inky black brow lift in question. “I’ve