Redemption (The Penton Vampire Legacy) Read Online Free Page A

wanted her left alone to follow them, but he’d offer it up and hope she took one of the other options. He didn’t want to enthrall her. Maybe he could get her to Penton voluntarily, at least until Mark was well. Then they could convince her to take the job.
    Indecision warred on her face as she looked at her junk heap of a car. She slipped her hand into her coat pocket where she’d stashed her handgun, and Aidan felt a wash of admiration. She probably thought she could shoot them if they tried to hurt her. She had no idea it wouldn’t even slow them down unless it was a lucky close-range shot to the head.
    With a final look at Mirren, she seemed to reach a decision. “I’ll ride with the patient.” She hitched up her skirt enough to crawl into the back of the Bronco, giving Aidan a heart-stopping view of those long, long legs, and settled next to Mark, placing a firm hand on the towels covering his wounds.
    Mirren retrieved her medical case and purse and set them next to her, then paused and stared at his hands, which had gotten covered in Mark’s blood when he’d thrown the discarded bandages into the Dumpster.
    Krys pulled a fresh wipe from her kit and held it out to him, but the blood had taken hold. Mirren swiped his tongue across one of his palms, closing his eyes for a moment and then fixing Krys with a slightly unfocused gaze.
    Holy hell. The big guy’s eyes had lightened to silver and he was about a half step from losing it.
    “Hey.” Aidan spoke sharply and squeezed his friend’s shoulder hard enough to break bones in a human.
    Mirren blinked at Krys. “Sorry, darlin’.” He shook his head and stalked to the driver’s side door, climbing in with a rumble of cursing.
    Krys sat openmouthed for a moment before whispering, “Is he, uh, OK to ride with?” She looked about a half second shy of bolting.
    Aidan gave her the most reassuring smile he could manage. “You’ll be safe.”

K rys stared out the side windows of the Bronco as Mirren pulled onto the two-lane road leading into Penton. They’d encountered a surprising amount of traffic in the downtown area. A lot of people on the streets, too.
    She eyed them curiously, trying to imagine them as patients, colleagues, maybe even friends. She hadn’t had a lot of those, and maybe being the only doctor in a small town would make it easier to settle in and become part of a community. She glanced at her big, silent chauffeur, who certainly didn’t seem like friendship material.
Plus, he licked blood off his hands, and Aidan Murphy was giving off some intense vibes from that mouthwatering face of his. Don’t forget the weirdness.
    At the main intersection, she looked out a side window at a massive black rectangle blocking the road that led west. “What’s that?” she asked Mirren, not holding out much hope that he’d answer. He’d been sullen so far, not to mention being the size of a Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float.
    “The old cotton mill,” he said, his voice a deep, scratchy rumble. Like Aidan, he had a trace of an accent. Scottish, maybe? Irish? Something-ish.
    “Is it being used for anything?”
    “No.”
    Well, OK then. So much for conversation with Mirren Kincaid. She checked Mark again and settled back to finish the ride in silence.
    The steady click of the truck’s turn signal drew Krys’s attention back to the issues at hand: a patient to treat, a semi-mute giant with questionable sanitary habits, and a man over whom she’d practically made a fool of herself. Aidan Murphy was too attractive to ever be interested in a plain Jane like her, and he might be too controlling to be the kind of boss she wanted—basically, one who’d leave her alone and let her run a clinic the way it needed to be run. She’d been controlled enough in her life.
    She fought the urge to look out the back window of the Bronco’s hatch, where she knew he was trailing them in his muddy car.
    Mirren turned the Bronco in to a parking lot and stopped