Devoured: Brides of the Kindred 11 Read Online Free Page B

It’s easy.”
    “Wow…” Tess looked at her admiringly.
“You’ve really got this all planned out.”
    “I knew eventually you’d need a place to
run to, to get away from Pierce,” Di said seriously. “Men like him are hard to
throw off the scent. But this should do the trick.”
    “I agree.” Tess nodded slowly. “It’s a
little—well, a lot weird—but it might
just work.”
    “It has to.” Di looked suddenly serious.
“You can’t go back to him, Tess, and you can’t let him find you. He’ll kill you
this time. After what he did to poor Gus…”
    “I’m not going back.” Tess lifted her
chin. “And like you said, this is the perfect camouflage—he’s never going to
find me.” She sighed. “I just wish I hadn’t had to lie to my job about where I
was going. I hope Mrs. Henshaw will be okay without me there to find her false
teeth. She gets so upset when she loses them.”
    “You’re an angel, hon. I know the folks at
Happy Rest are going to miss you. But Pierce knows you work there,” Di pointed
out. “It would be the easiest thing in the world for him to wait out in the
parking lot one night when you’re working a late shift and then—”
    “Stop!” Tess put up a hand. “Please, I
don’t want to think about it. I have enough nightmares as it is.”
    “Sorry,” Di said sympathetically. “Are you
really still having bad dreams?”
    “Not all bad.” Tess frowned. “And not all about Pierce either. Lately, I…never mind.”
    “Lately what?” Di probed.
    “Nothing. It’s just this weird dream I
keep having but I can’t remember it when I wake up.”
    “Then how do you know it’s the same
dream?”
    Tess shrugged. “I just know.”
    “It’s probably just stress.”
    “Probably,” Tess agreed. “Look, don’t you
think you should be going? The hour of free time you gave your tour group to
wander around the parklands is almost up.”
    “Oh, you’re right!” Di glanced at her
watch. “It’s almost time to get them to the Sacred Grove.” She looked anxiously
at Tess. “Will you be okay here? Think you can manage?”
    “I’ll…be fine.” Tess wished she could
swallow the uneasy lump that had risen in her throat but she tried to smile
like noting was wrong. “You just…go on.”
    “I’ll visit you on my next tour,” Di
promised. “Just lay low for a while and take it easy. After a few weeks maybe
we can figure something else out.” She nodded at the old fashioned bookshelf.
“Maybe you can catch up on your reading.”
    “I guess I will.” Tess nodded and tried to
smile. She hugged her friend tightly. “Thanks, Di. I can see you went to a lot
of trouble to find this spot for me. I…I really appreciate it.”
    “Anytime, honey.” Di gave her a squeeze.
“Okay, I’m going to scoot now. You just make yourself at home.”
    “I will.” Tess smiled and hugged her
again. “Good bye.”
    “Good bye and good luck. See you on
tomorrow’s tour.” Di gave her a swift kiss on the cheek. Then, after peeking
through the crack in the door to make sure the coast was clear, she left.
    Tess looked around the kitchen and then
sank down into one of the too-large chairs with a sigh. The thought of
Goldilocks came back again.
    “Who’s
been sitting in my chair…eating my food…sleeping in my bed?”
    “Me,” murmured Tess. “I will be. I guess I’m Goldilocks.” She sighed. “I just hope like
hell the three bears don’t find me out…”

Chapter Four

 
    “Are you certain about this? We’ve had false hopes
before.” Sylvan leaned anxiously over the bed where the still form of Head
Council Member Terex was resting. It was weeks now since the male had been
injured in the fight against the demons who had briefly taken over the Unmated
Males sections and though he had stirred once or twice, he had yet to regain
full consciousness. Just recently Sylvan had put his sister-in-law, Olivia, in
charge of watching Terex and she had reported that he had opened