Damned if I Don't (The Harker Trilogy Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

to come along?
    Footsteps creak on the stairs and my cousin appears, carrying a backpack, looking like the high school student he so recently was, down to his innocent face and his messy blond hair. He looks like the Carl I’ve known his whole life, but when he frowns down at me, his eyes are bloodshot and glassy, like he’s been crying.
    Our gazes lock. The corners of his mouth turn down even farther, and I’d shrink away if I was steady on my feet. The accusation in his eyes is almost too much for me. I want to apologize, but I don’t know exactly what for. For protecting myself, for killing his mother, for not knowing what else to do? Maybe I didn’t have to use a fire spell, but Aunt Tessa had been trying to suffocate me at that point, and the only spell that came to mind was my pyrokinesis.
    “I’m here.”
    Jude’s jaw tenses before he finally nods. “All right, let’s get going.”
    As if in answer, a lone, mournful howl diverts all of our attention to Purl. My black cat watches us from the mat in front of the door, howling like some sort of feline banshee.
    “I guess we’ve gotta take her with us,” I say wearily.
    Jude looks at me incredulously. “Take a cat on a vampire hunt?”
    “Well, we can’t leave her here. Besides, cats hate vampires.”
    “Exactly. She’ll be a guard cat.”
    “A guard cat?” he asks suspiciously.
    I shudder, thinking about Anthony’s cronies crawling over this place. And if it’s not the vampires, it will be the police when they come to see what’s happening with Aunt Tessa. I have an okay relationship with the police department here, but I’m not pressing my luck. Cremating a human is something that I’m sure my vampire-hunting clemency doesn’t cover.
    Taking Purl to Graeme and Amelia’s hotel room crosses my mind, but I don’t know where they’re staying at the moment, and I want to keep it that way. If I get captured, I don’t want Anthony being able to wrestle that information from me. I’m not sure what good Amelia would be to him once he has me, but I don’t want to give him a chance. She’d be the new Harker, and I don’t want to put that burden or danger on her.
    Regrettably, I had the chance to have Graeme take Purl with him yesterday, but he left in such a huff that it didn’t occur to me. Also, I didn’t count on my aunt betraying all of us.
    Purl’s tawny eyes watch me, as if she knows what I’m going to say next.
    “She’s coming.”

Chapter 4
    Edie
     
    I sleep for most of the two-and-a-half-hour drive to Houston, despite my Purl’s mournful wailing from the backseat. Her crying usually grates on my nerves but I’m so tired it doesn’t keep me from dozing off. Thankfully, Jude and Carl let me sleep, even though I may not deserve it.
    I should be awake. Especially when there’s so much happening. I should be awake.
    This time, I don’t enter the Void, allowing me to rest blissfully.
    Sleep.
    But the trip doesn’t last anywhere near long enough.
    “Hey.” Jude’s voice brings me back to reality. He sounds reluctant, but there’s an urgency to his voice.
    I blink a couple of times as the world around me comes into focus. We’re parked off the road in Houston. I recognize the area as Uptown.
    “We’re here already?” I ask, stretching. My whole body screams in protest .
    “Yeah. And you’re not going to like this, but I need you to stay here, while I go check out the Hive.”
    I stare at him, aghast. “What?”
    “It’s safer if you stay here.” He sounds sincere, but it sets my teeth on edge.
    “Not this again,” I groan, doing a literal face palm. “Why the hell are you bringing me with you, if you won’t let me go into these places?”
    “I want to keep you safe,” Jude says.
    The last time he left me alone like this, I was stuck in an alley while he went into Twin Fangs, putting himself in danger while I had an attack from my virus. I’m not going through that shit again. He can kick and scream all he wants,