Read Online Demon's Daughter (Demon Outlaws) by Paula Altenburg - Free Book Online Page B

received. She felt a twinge of shame. She had not wanted for her to find out how she collected their alms. She blamed the stranger for that as well.
    She turned on him. “Leave whatever you feel you can spare, and then be on your way.”
    The stranger, water dripping down the sides of his lean face, met her eyes with a look that mirrored contempt and a faint surprise, as if he could not quite believe who—or what—he was seeing, but found her distasteful regardless. “Then I’ll leave you my name. It’s Hunter, but I’m known as the Demon Slayer.”
    Desire’s face went gray, and she grabbed at her chest just as a tremor rocked the ground beneath their feet. She stumbled and would have fallen if the stranger, who was closest, hadn’t caught her in his arms and held her steady.
    Airie righted herself. The tremor passed, and with a cry of alarm she reached for Desire. “Mother!”
    “This priestess is your mother ?”
    Again, faint surprise, and this time a touch of horror, filled his voice. Airie ignored him, too intent on the woman in his arms to care about him or his reactions to her, although she filed them away to contemplate later. Right now, she feared the worst.
    She stroked her mother’s cheek, and beneath her fingers the ashen skin warmed, but still, Desire did not stir. Always, in the past, Airie’s touch had brought her some degree of physical comfort, but not this time. She knew she had to do something—anything—no matter how insignificant, to try and bring her peace at the very least. Her mother was dying.
    Take her home .
    Airie heard the command with great clarity, and fear for her mother brushed her heart. She could not permit this woman who had raised her, and loved her, to die here on the mountainside. She needed to get her home, to the temple, where Desire could rest and feel the presence of the goddesses. They would summon her to them when she passed on from this life.
    The stranger knelt and laid Desire’s frail little frame on the cold ground. At the same time, Airie rose and began to peel off her own wet clothing.
    “I’ll get a blanket from my pack and—” His head swung around as he noticed Airie’s actions. “What are you doing?”
    Airie’s fingers halted on the hooks at the waistband of her skirt. “I can’t carry her against my wet clothing. She’ll freeze.”
    The stranger’s neck reddened and he busied himself at his pack. “Here. Put these on.” He tossed a heavy shirt and pair of coarse trousers over his shoulder in her general direction. Airie caught them. “I have a blanket for the priestess.”
    She changed clothes quickly, not caring if her nudity bothered him, more concerned for her mother’s well-being than his sensibilities. He had stared at her long enough when he thought she was a normal woman. He was uncomfortable now only because he thought she was something less.
    She slipped her arms beneath Desire’s shoulders and knees and lifted her easily. Again, the stranger started, but he said nothing about her strength.
    “Here,” he said curtly instead, reaching to take Desire from her. “If you aren’t afraid of Sally, you can ride and hold the priestess. I’ll walk.”
    There was a veiled antagonism in his attitude that kindled Airie’s temper. She did not want him near the temple. She did not want him to be there if her mother did not survive because grief was an unfamiliar emotion to Airie. The prospect of it frightened her, and she was afraid of how she might react to that fear.
    “You’ve done enough. I can carry her myself,” she said, her tone sharp.
    The stranger dropped his hands to his sides, but he did not budge. “You are using my clothes and my blanket. I want them back.”
    “Consider them your offering and leave.”
    “I already gave you an offering,” he said. “I gave you my name.”
    Hunter. The Demon Slayer .
    He had no shame, and they wasted precious time by arguing. He would only follow her if she walked away, and her