Night Road Read Online Free

this moment.”
    Gordon’s eyes had been closed, but now they opened just a slit. He didn’t look at Cole, so whether he was feeling exhaustion, nausea, or hatred, Cole couldn’t say.
    It didn’t really matter anyway. “Just do it,” Cole said impatiently.
    Gordon leaned over the toilet and obeyed.
    Cole kept his head turned away. He thought about the cabdriver whose upholstery he had ruined. He was starting to feel a little sick himself.
    Gordon, once started, didn’t seem able to stop. “Shut your eyes,” Cole ordered without looking. “Don’t look down.”
    Soon after that everything grew quiet. Gordon flushed the toilet, and Cole handed him a dampened towel to wipe his face with.
    “God,” Gordon said, draped exhaustedly over the toilet, “I just want to go home.”
    “Don’t worry, I’ll get you there. Where are you staying? Here with Johnny, or in one of the apartments?”
    “I want to go to my real home.”
    His real home? Hadn’t Sandor told this boy how things were? That he could never go home again? That he was cut off from his former life just as surely as if he were a newborn whose umbilical cord had been severed?
    If not, Cole ought to tell him.
    “You’ve got to feed now,” he said instead. Better to stick to practical matters—let Sandor handle the messy emotional nuances of the kid’s upheaval.
    Number one problem: The kid was now empty, and soon Thirst would begin to thread its way through his body. He needed to feed quickly—not much, just enough to prevent need.
    But Gordon sat there unmoving, evidently still nauseated. So Cole slipped out quietly, shutting the bathroom door behind him. Within a minute he was back with one of the omnis from the living room in tow. “Sit up,” he told Gordon.
    Gordon groaned.
    “You don’t have to take much,” Cole said, “just a bit. Everything will be all right once you get back in balance.”
    “I can’t.”
    “Yes, you can. You have to.”
    Gordon opened his eyes and saw the omni boy. Cole noted the way his gaze went eagerly to the boy’s neck, darting over the exposed bits of skin. Yes. Now instinct would take over.
    But Gordon shook his head. “That’s a dude, ” he said from the floor.
    “What?”
    “No way I’m putting my lips on a guy. ”
    Cole stared at him blankly. Incredible—this kid was incredible.
    Where was Sandor? Sandor was the one who should be dealing with this.
    Cole kept a grip on his temper. “Look at it this way,” he told Gordon, letting his voice flow, calm and sensible. “Until recently you ate meat, right? Hamburgers, steak? But you never cared whether it came from a cow or a steer.”
    “I never had to put my mouth on a steer’s neck.”
    “Gordon.” Cole kept his voice firm. “Look at me.”
    Gordon focused on him.
    “Take some now, or you may kill someone later. Is that what you want?”
    That got through, a little. Gordon blinked, and doubt began to creep over his face.
    Cole gave the omni boy a look, and the boy knelt beside Gordon. He held his hand out, palm up, with a little smirk that did not go unnoticed by Cole.
    “Gordon,” Cole repeated.
    Slowly, Gordon pushed himself to sit up.
    “Here, let me.” Cole took the boy’s hand and, leaning over it, fished inside his shirt for his cross. He pulled it out and pricked the wrist. Then he offered the wrist to Gordon.
    Gordon did not look at Cole, or the boy. But he took the hand between his thumb and forefinger and gingerly lifted it to his mouth with an expression of distaste, which disappeared as he began sucking cautiously.
    Cole looked away, down at the tile floor. “The veins flow more steadily than arteries,” he said into thesilence. “They contain less oxygen but are easier to control. That makes it easier to control yourself. And self-control, Gordon, ” he added, pausing for emphasis, “is the key to everything. ”
    He waited a few more moments, gauging the time, then said, “That’s enough,” and reached over to pull