Dark Descent (Vampire Hunter Book 5) Read Online Free

“I’ll clean it up later.”
    “I need to get
going, take care of the diner before someone else finds the gruesome scene,”
Nicholas said. “But I just have to ask, how the hell did you manage to kill both Thomas and Bartholomew? Those guys are intimidating, even to me .”
    “I don’t know. I
guess seeing Henry about to get turned into a vampire fueled me with a strength
that I didn’t know I had.”
    Nicholas nodded
but didn’t comment. “Okay, I’m off,” he said. “We can talk about your vampire
slaying skills later. Anything I need to know about the scene I’m going to
clean up?”
    “There’s blood
– everywhere,” I replied.
    “That’s fine.”
Nicholas waved his hand dismissively. “I know what it looks like when a vampire
is staked. Is anyone else dead? Patrons of the diner?”
    “No, but they
killed the owner. I didn’t see the body, though.”
    “I’ll find it. No
other casualties?”
    “Not that I know
of,” I replied.
    “Good. They
probably had the owner make everyone else leave. I’ll get rid of Thomas’ and
Bartholomew’s bodies and clean up the blood.” He looked at Lucas. “What about
the owner? What do you think is best?”
    “I guess leave
him?” Lucas shook his head. “Shit, Nic, I don’t know. If you get rid of the
body, his – or her – family will never know what happened.”
    “That’s what I was
thinking,” Nicholas replied. “Okay, I’d better go now.”
    “Please be
careful, Nicholas,” I said.
    “Don’t worry about
me. I’ll be fine,” he replied, forcing a smile.
    “Make sure you
disable any cameras,” I said as an afterthought.
    “I bet that the
twins already took care of that, but I’ll double check,” Nicholas promised.
    “Thank you for
helping Henry,” I said, my voice shaky.
    “You guys don’t
have to keep thanking me,” Nicholas replied. “In case you haven’t figured it
out by now, I like helping people – and especially my friends and
my brother. I will never atone for my sins, but at least I’m on the right track
now.” And with that, he was gone.
    Nicholas had such
a blasé attitude most of the time; I hadn’t realized he shared the same guilt
as Lucas over the things they had done in the past.
    “You’ll have to
wear my clothes when you leave here. Yours are probably ruined,” Lucas said.
“And you really do need a shower before you go home.”
    “Mom wasn’t too
pleased when I came back in your clothes that day it was raining and I got
drenched,” I muttered. “Maybe I can sneak in without her seeing me.”
    “If you really
think it will be a problem, ask Nicholas to stop by the mall on the way home,”
Lucas suggested.
    “It’s cool.” I
wanted another one of Lucas’ shirts. When I was panicked and alone, trying to
wile away the painful hours of the night, I often wore the one he had given me.
It was comforting.
    “Does Henry look
any different to you?” I asked. Before, I couldn’t tell that he was alive until
I placed my ear against his chest and listened. But now, I could easily see his
chest rising and falling. Was Henry getting stronger? Or was it just wishful
thinking on my part?
    “His breathing has
improved, after the first dose,” Lucas confirmed.
    “That’s great
news, right?” I asked excitedly.
    “Don’t get ahead
of yourself. He’s far from being out of the woods. Part of the reason he was so
weak is because of the amount of blood drained from his body. But the human
body is resilient. It’s a slow process, but his body is already working to
regenerate the blood that was lost. Yes, he looks better. But no, we can’t
assume he’s going to be okay.” Lucas had been pacing. He stopped and sat down
on the floor next to Henry and me.
    “I’ll watch him,”
he said gently. “You get a shower. Just go into my bedroom and pick out anything
you want to wear. It’s all hanging in the closet. My wardrobe consists of
black, black and more black.” Lucas smiled, obviously trying to make