Read Online (SPECTR 1) Hunter of Demons by Jordan L. Hawk - Free Book Online Page B

gotten spooked and now he was taking it out on John. Annoying, but nothing to get worked up about.
    On the way to his bedroom, John paused outside Caleb’s door. Holding his breath, he very carefully eased the door open, just far enough to see the bed and the figure in it.
    The only light came from the street lamps outside, filtered through the curtains. Caleb sprawled on his back, his head turned to the side. He looked painfully vulnerable, with his hair tumbled over his forehead, his brows and mouth relaxed instead of drawn into a scowl. One hand lay on the pillow by his cheek, loosely curled.
    But the vulnerability was an illusion. Fierce Caleb had taken up demon hunting when he thought he had no other choice, to give peace to the brother he’d obviously loved. He might be a vegetarian hippie peacenik, but there was a strength in Caleb to match the drakul’s.
    John wondered what would happen if he crossed to the bed and smoothed the lock of hair off Caleb’s forehead. Did the sheets and blanket cover a pair of the tighty-whities Sean had bought for him, or did Caleb sleep in the nude?
    His mind helpfully conjured up the image of Caleb writhing beneath him, long legs draped over John’s shoulders, cock glistening with precome while John pushed deep into his tight ass. Because obviously he needed to be fantasizing about someone who was not only under unofficial house arrest, but possessed by an entity as powerful as Gray.
    Damn. Now he was fully hard. Maybe Sean had a point. Maybe he wasn’t thinking clearly at the moment. Gray was an unknown factor. Sure, he said he didn’t snack on the unpossessed, but NHEs didn’t always tell the truth. Some of them lied very, very well; good exorcists had died believing those lies. If the drakul showed up in John’s bedroom tonight, it wasn’t going to be to fulfill some kink he’d never even realized he had before now.
    He didn’t think Gray would prey on him, or he wouldn’t have agreed to go along with Kaniyar’s request. No matter what Sean said.
    Shutting the door as quietly as he had opened it, John crossed the hall to his bedroom. Once inside, he hesitated only briefly before taking out athame and chalk, and casting a protective circle around his bed.
    Just in case.
    *   *   *
    Caleb stared out the big front window of Starkweather’s condo. The cobblestone street outside was damp and slick from the heavy mist rolling in off the ocean. Everything on the other side of the glass was veiled in gray.
    Starkweather had left a few hours ago, promising to be back by nightfall, and making it clear Caleb was not to leave the condo under any circumstances.
    “I hate having to do this,” he’d said apologetically, even as he scrawled strange runes over the doorstep. “I trust you, but my boss’s head would explode if she knew I’d left without setting up a simple spirit ward.”
    Caleb wondered if Starkweather was telling the truth. Maybe the whole thing was a setup and the agent really didn’t trust Caleb at all. “I don’t know what a spirit ward is.”
    “Sorry. Basically, anyone possessed won’t be able to cross the threshold.”
    “Great. So if there’s a fire, I get to sit here and cheerfully burn to death?”
    “Pro tip: don’t become an arsonist while I’m gone.”
    “I’ll do my best. Let’s say I’m happily dying in a fire, and I spot a horrible car wreck outside the window. What then?”
    Starkweather pointed at a piece of paper beside the phone. “I already wrote down my cell number. You can call me—or 911—to save any mangled pedestrians, little old ladies who need to cross the street, or kittens stuck in trees.”
    Ass. But a charming ass.
    Now, less than an hour after Starkweather left, Gray was getting antsy. “We must leave. The other mortal is keeping us from hunting the demon.”
    It was harder to ignore Gray when there was no one else to talk with. Tension vibrated through him, the desire to move, to search, to feed growing more