Wild Hearts (Blood & Judgment #1) Read Online Free Page B

and slow my pace. I am anxious, but I cannot risk speeding down these quiet streets. I am conspicuous anyway; best not to draw any more attention to myself. Yeah, I could have jacked the old Ford out of the mall parking lot, but I have standards. And class. It is a risk worth taking to ride in style. But, I know I will have to get rid of it soon.
    My eyes scan the houses and I find the one I am looking for. I turn into the driveway and lower the window. I punch in the code and the gates open. I drive through quickly, feeling the pop of the wards that have been set.
    He came through . I relax my tense shoulders a fraction.
    They are merely a cloak; they won’t keep anyone out. That’s way too much heavy magic and will be easily identifiable, but this will keep me off my father’s radar for a few days.
    I park the Lambo and reach over to the passenger side for my duffel bag. Making my way to the front door, I take a look around and roll my eyes. I heft the bag higher up my shoulder and ring the doorbell. I stare at the huge glass door as I wait and several moments later it opens.
    “Ems!” Simon greets me with a big smile.
    “Christ’s sake,” I mutter as I take in the handsome face of the vampire I sired decades ago and the girl draped all over him like a cloak. “Get rid of the piece of fluff, we need to talk.” I push past them and my six-inch boot heels clack on the tiled floor of the foyer as I make my way across it. I dump the duffel bag at the foot of the stairs and keep going. I end up in a sunken living room with floor-to-ceiling glass doors that look out on a view of an infinity pool and the rolling hills beyond, lit up by flood lights that make my eyes water.
    I wait impatiently as Simon gets rid of his latest fling and I can see her pout from here.
    I coil my long, dark hair into a tight bun and pull some pins out of the pocket of my black leather duster. I jab them in, feeling slightly better. My skin prickles as I remember the disgusting motel I had to hide out in last night and the shower from hell that I had to share with a cockroach.
    “Like it?” Simon asks me, sauntering towards me with all the swagger of the stud that he is.
    “Not my style,” I say shortly. “I prefer it…”
    “Dark and gothic,” Simon finishes my sentence to my ire. “I like it,” he adds taking a long look around. “It’s airy.”
    Airy? More like a death trap. “Whatever,” I mutter.
    Simon turns back to me and closes the gap between us with a flash of vampire speed. He embraces me tightly, breaking all the protocols I’ve set. I stand there awkwardly with my arms pinned to my sides while he squeezes me.
    “Sorry,” he mumbles, eventually letting me go. “It’s just been a while.”
    I shrug and turn my back to him. I don’t do ‘feelings’. He is way too needy sometimes.
    “Do you trust her?” I ask the most important question.
    “Who? Sasha? Yeah, she has no idea who you are,” Simon replies.
    “Sasha? The little slut that was clinging to you like a vine?” I ask nastily.
    “Jealous?” he asks back just as nastily and I flinch, but quickly regain my composure.
    “In your dreams,” I sneer at him.
    He shrugs at me, unconcerned.
    “So, will these wards hold?” I ask.
    “Yeah,” he says with a sigh and runs his hand through his short blond hair. “For now. Sasha is a competent witch, but young. She still has much to learn. Is it big trouble this time?”
    “You could say that. I just need time to lay low,” I say vaguely. He doesn’t need to know the ins and outs of my race across the country to get away from my asshole father’s creeps and towards who the hell knows what.
    “Probably best to get rid of the ride then,” Simon says with a tilt of his head.
    “Later,” I say, suddenly exhausted. Dawn is coming and I can feel the sun trying to reach into my very soul to destroy me. “I need a shower to clean that fleabag motel off me,” I add with a moue of distaste.
    Simon snickers at