Read Online The Demon Creed (A Demon Outlaws Novel) (Entangled Edge) by Paula Altenburg - Free Book Online

set aside a stinging sense of betrayal. It hardly mattered that in her fear, she had revealed a secret about him to an enemy. What did matter was that she had nothing to fear from him—even if she did not yet understand that.
    Creed said nothing as he waited to see what either one would do next. He had already decided he could not leave Nieve here with this man.
    But Creed was the one in the wrong in this particular situation. No laws protected Nieve. The old man owned her and could do with her as he pleased. If Creed tried to take Nieve away, Bear had every right to appeal to the Godseekers for restitution.
    To protect her, Creed had no choice but to kill him. That was the one action an assassin would have no need to explain.
    His demon rumbled agreement.
    An unpleasant smile curled Bear’s thick, sun-cracked lips. “No. Not a full-blooded demon,” he said, staring hard at Creed’s face. “But no doubt a demon’s spawn. Do the Godseekers know what you are, Assassin?”
    They both knew they did not. Godseekers had spent countless years as faithful servants to the goddesses. They had little love for half demons. They would never trust one in a position such as Creed’s.
    With a speed born of long hours of training, Creed reached for his pistol, then shot the man twice in the chest, careful with his aim so that Nieve, behind Bear, would not be hit.
    Both bullets passed through Bear’s body. One struck the cast iron stove and ricocheted into the wall. The other buried itself in the frame of the door leading to the rest of the house.
    Shock edged out the old man’s self-satisfied expression. His hands clutched at his chest. Blood seeped past his fingers to spread across the front of his thick plaid work shirt. It dripped from beneath his palms. He folded at the knees, then crumpled forward and was still.
    Creed set the pistol on top of the table, the barrel too hot to holster in his waistband, but he did not want her to feel threatened by him.
    Nieve backed away. Her heel caught the potbellied stove’s cast iron poker, knocking it over with a clatter. It scraped against the blistered linoleum flooring to catch on one leg of the stove.
    “I’m not going to hurt you,” Creed said.
    Hate, as well as fear, flowed from her now. “You’ve ruined everything.”
    Creed strained to hear her soft-spoken words and struggled to understand them. At first, they were incomprehensible. He had saved her.
    But when he examined the situation from her per-spective, he thought perhaps she was right. He’d had no right to interfere. Perhaps she preferred death. Many women did, and she was far from the strongest one he’d ever met. What future could she possibly have now?
    He had ruined things for himself as well, or at least created a serious setback. Bear could no longer give him the information he wanted regarding the missing children.
    They remained his priority. The world was changing with the immortals gone, and Creed hoped it would one day become a better place for it. That meant he had to do his own part to help in its transformation. Children, mortal and half demon alike, were the key.
    Now that the danger to Nieve had passed, his demon had settled. He could tuck away these complex and baffling feelings he harbored for her. She hated him and feared him, but he could not walk away and abandon her to an uncertain fate. Anything could happen out here, in such isolation, to a woman alone. He would take her to safety, then move on with his journey.
    The house was silent except for the harsh breaths Nieve drew in. She brushed back a length of pale hair from her cheek with an unsteady hand. Fat teardrops clung to her long lashes, making her eyes sparkle like green pools of light.
    A significant change had manifested in her. Gone was the despair from last night. She had made some sort of decision, and whatever it was, he was wary of it.
    “Do you have somewhere to go? Somewhere I can take you?” Creed asked. “Any