Inner Demon Read Online Free Page B

to get out of this joint. Once I was free, I’d grab Bronx and the three of us would make a run for it.
    â€œYou’re ridiculous.” She chuckled.
    â€œI’m serious. You ever seen a hospital bill? They’ll steal your arm and your leg.”
    â€œIdiot,” she murmured, but she was smiling.
    I was relieved to see her happy, already shaking off Harvey’s comments. It was better this way. There was no use in trying to convince her that she should listen to the blood sucker and stop her hunt before she got hurt. The woman was on a mission to stop this killer and to prove something to her peers. I just prayed that whatever it was that she had to prove wasn’t more important than her life.

 
    Chapter 3
    I stomped my feet on the welcome mat, knocking off the snow that was clinging to my shoes before I pushed open the front door. Warm air brushed across my cheeks, chasing away the cold and bringing a sigh from my lips. The house was quiet except for the soft murmur of the television in the living room—­someone was watching the evening news. Holiday decorations were carefully placed on the small table and cards were taped to the large mirror hanging on the wall.
    The quiet was welcome after the chaos that had consumed my life. So far, I was lucky that the Towers hadn’t found my parents. That ugly part of my life had yet to leak into their home on the north side of Low Town. Common sense said I shouldn’t come here, but I couldn’t help myself. It was the only way I knew to maintain my sanity.
    â€œHey Dad!” I called as I stripped off my coat and hung it in the hall closet between my mother’s and father’s. “Did you catch the score for the Warriors game last Sunday?” Low Town was lucky enough to field its own professional football team, though it had been a long time since we’d had an actual shot at a championship game.
    A frown puckered my brow when no one responded. I thought I was loud enough to be heard through most of the house. Hell, at least one of the boys should have heard me and come banging down the stairs to greet me as they usually did. My parents had generously agreed to take in a pair of runaways from the Towers and were keeping them hidden while trying to give them some semblance of a normal life.
    Walking down the hall, past years of family pictures, I stopped in the living room to find it empty. The small television was on in the corner with the evening news signing off in favor of a game show. My father’s favorite glass sat on the side table next to his chair, half filled with iced tea. I stood in the center of the room, straining to hear any sounds in the house, but it was as silent as a tomb. There should have been something. My parents were always home in the evening. Hell, they should have just finished dinner and the smell of my mother’s amazing cooking should have filled the air. But there was nothing.
    â€œMom?” I called, turning toward the kitchen.
    My heart stopped as I took my first step. Lilith stood in the open doorway, a haunting smile playing with her nearly black lips. Her gray skin took on a somewhat pearlescent shine in the soft lamplight and her black dress clung to her curves like a second skin.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” I demanded, forcing the words out past a lump of fear in my throat.
    â€œI thought we could take some time to chat,” she purred, taking a step toward me. I could see her legs moving as she approached me, but her motion was so sinuous I was sure she was slithering.
    â€œWhere are my parents?”
    The Queen of the Underworld smiled, but it was all sharp teeth and fangs. “Occupied.”
    â€œWhere the fuck are they?” I roared, my temper snapping in the face of nearly crippling fear.
    Lilith was on me in a second, her face less than an inch from me. Her smile was still in place but it looked all the more menacing now that all I could see was her