Read Online Damned if I Don't (The Harker Trilogy Book 2) by Erin Hayes - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Erin Hayes
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demure gaze falls on Jude. She gasps.
“ Ale ?” she whispers breathlessly.
It takes me a second to realize that she called him by another name. And now I wish I’d never set foot here.
Chapter 9
Jude
“ Ale? ” the Esther lookalike asks.
That name reverberates in the dark recesses of my brain, seeming to get louder as I dwell on it, echoing and building in strength. It seems strangely familiar, yet it sounds like a name meant for someone else.
Something awakens in me at the single word. Not just the name itself, but how she says it. I’ve heard that name before, from her specifically. Which is crazy because she sounds so much like Esther, if I was going to recall anything, I should have before.
It’s like the name “Ale” unlocked a part of my brain that was shut away. Nothing would have penetrated it.
Until now.
Immediately, I feel a headache strike me like a bolt of lightning, stemming from the scar on my forehead.
Hannah is watching with huge, wide eyes, like she’s seen a ghost.
I am that ghost.
“I think you have the wrong guy.” It’s my only defense, and I say it weakly.
“No.” Esther— Hannah —shakes her head. “No. It is you.” She strides past Edie and places a hand on my cheek. “It is you. Alejandro. ”
Alejandro.
That’s my name. Or was. There’s nothing else associated with it, no memory of who I was as Alejandro. But that was me from before my amnesia. Before waking up in a hospital with a feral hunger and no knowledge of who I was.
I’ve managed to build a life since then, yes, but there’s always been a hole in my identity. Anthony recognized me yesterday - hell, it looks like he could be my sire - but Edie promises that she only cares about who I am now .
I don’t know if that will hold up after this.
It looks like past and present are going to collide right here and I’m not prepared. I don’t want it to happen.
The other vampires are watching our exchange. Edie is standing in front of me, looking like she’s going to be sick, and not just from her missing arm. I don’t blame her. I feel sick myself.
Alejandro. Jude. Who the fuck am I?
“I thought you were dead,” Hannah whispers, her words intimate and echoing in my brain. She knew me well back then. Well enough to talk to me like this. “You were dead.”
She’s speaking to me like a lost lover.
“I’m still here,” I say dumbly. What else do you say to that?
“What happened to your face?” She brushes her finger against the scar on my forehead and I tense up.
“It’s always been there.”
“No it hasn’t.”
Behind Hannah, Edie averts her eyes. She looks devastated, as if the very fabric of her universe is being torn apart as Hannah looks at me with those startling eyes. I don’t ever want to see that expression on Edie’s face again.
I push past Hannah towards Edie and put my hand at the small of her back, meaning to act as a support in case she really does faint, but it’s more to assert my position at Edie’s side. Her entire body is unyielding though.
“We need your help.” My voice sounds stronger than I thought it would.
From this vantage point, I can see Carl’s and Dean’s reactions. Their jaws are dropped as they watch the proceedings. Carl no longer looks like the brooding teenager. He just looks shocked. Dean looks like Dean—messy, screwed up, and in way over his head.
Meanwhile, Hannah has her head cocked to the side as she regards us. Her expression isn’t sad or angry. It’s more curious now.
“Interesting.” She purses her lips. “The Harker and Alejandro…”
“It’s Jude,” I say, my tone harsher than I intended it to be.
“So, you’re not Ale?” she asks, skeptical. She crosses her arms and cocks her hip to the side as she raises an eyebrow. I get the feeling that I’ve been under that scrutiny before.
“I may have been, but…”
“That would explain where you’ve been for the past fifty years. I should have put two and two
“ Ale ?” she whispers breathlessly.
It takes me a second to realize that she called him by another name. And now I wish I’d never set foot here.
Chapter 9
Jude
“ Ale? ” the Esther lookalike asks.
That name reverberates in the dark recesses of my brain, seeming to get louder as I dwell on it, echoing and building in strength. It seems strangely familiar, yet it sounds like a name meant for someone else.
Something awakens in me at the single word. Not just the name itself, but how she says it. I’ve heard that name before, from her specifically. Which is crazy because she sounds so much like Esther, if I was going to recall anything, I should have before.
It’s like the name “Ale” unlocked a part of my brain that was shut away. Nothing would have penetrated it.
Until now.
Immediately, I feel a headache strike me like a bolt of lightning, stemming from the scar on my forehead.
Hannah is watching with huge, wide eyes, like she’s seen a ghost.
I am that ghost.
“I think you have the wrong guy.” It’s my only defense, and I say it weakly.
“No.” Esther— Hannah —shakes her head. “No. It is you.” She strides past Edie and places a hand on my cheek. “It is you. Alejandro. ”
Alejandro.
That’s my name. Or was. There’s nothing else associated with it, no memory of who I was as Alejandro. But that was me from before my amnesia. Before waking up in a hospital with a feral hunger and no knowledge of who I was.
I’ve managed to build a life since then, yes, but there’s always been a hole in my identity. Anthony recognized me yesterday - hell, it looks like he could be my sire - but Edie promises that she only cares about who I am now .
I don’t know if that will hold up after this.
It looks like past and present are going to collide right here and I’m not prepared. I don’t want it to happen.
The other vampires are watching our exchange. Edie is standing in front of me, looking like she’s going to be sick, and not just from her missing arm. I don’t blame her. I feel sick myself.
Alejandro. Jude. Who the fuck am I?
“I thought you were dead,” Hannah whispers, her words intimate and echoing in my brain. She knew me well back then. Well enough to talk to me like this. “You were dead.”
She’s speaking to me like a lost lover.
“I’m still here,” I say dumbly. What else do you say to that?
“What happened to your face?” She brushes her finger against the scar on my forehead and I tense up.
“It’s always been there.”
“No it hasn’t.”
Behind Hannah, Edie averts her eyes. She looks devastated, as if the very fabric of her universe is being torn apart as Hannah looks at me with those startling eyes. I don’t ever want to see that expression on Edie’s face again.
I push past Hannah towards Edie and put my hand at the small of her back, meaning to act as a support in case she really does faint, but it’s more to assert my position at Edie’s side. Her entire body is unyielding though.
“We need your help.” My voice sounds stronger than I thought it would.
From this vantage point, I can see Carl’s and Dean’s reactions. Their jaws are dropped as they watch the proceedings. Carl no longer looks like the brooding teenager. He just looks shocked. Dean looks like Dean—messy, screwed up, and in way over his head.
Meanwhile, Hannah has her head cocked to the side as she regards us. Her expression isn’t sad or angry. It’s more curious now.
“Interesting.” She purses her lips. “The Harker and Alejandro…”
“It’s Jude,” I say, my tone harsher than I intended it to be.
“So, you’re not Ale?” she asks, skeptical. She crosses her arms and cocks her hip to the side as she raises an eyebrow. I get the feeling that I’ve been under that scrutiny before.
“I may have been, but…”
“That would explain where you’ve been for the past fifty years. I should have put two and two
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