Read Online The Fledgling by AE Jones - Free Book Online

asked.
    Talia took a step closer, held her breath, and swung the weight at the demon’s head with all of her vampire might.
    The weight connected with a loud and sickening splat, as if she had smashed a melon. Townsend lurched to the side, and Jean Luc flashed, tackling him so he would not crush Deanna.
    Talia dropped the bloody weight and caught the young woman before she crumpled to the floor.
    Jean Luc wrestled with Townsend, who was still thrashing about. “Get her out of here, Talia!”
    She lifted Deanna and carried her to the front, and then ran back into the exercise room. The demon morphed before their eyes, his skin turning purple. He launched himself at Jean Luc, who spun out of the way, but not soon enough to avoid his claws. They shredded his shirt, and Talia gasped as blood ran in lines across Jean Luc’s chest as he fell to the ground.
    Before the demon could attack Jean Luc again, Talia yelled and tossed a barbell weight like a frisbee. It hit his back and he staggered and turned toward her, growling.
    “I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
    “Too late now.” She shrugged indifferently, hoping he would take the bait.
    He sprang for her, and she backed out of his grip. She had to get him away from Deanna and Jean Luc.
    He hissed, and she ran, his lumbering steps pounding close behind. Talia yanked open the door at the end of the hallway and stepped into a storage room. She whipped her head around and located another door she prayed led outside. She pushed it open and stumbled out, slamming the door shut.
    She was in the alley where the men had attacked her days before. But instead of drunk humans, she had a powerful demon to defeat. She needed a weapon. A broken pallet lay against a dumpster, and she grabbed a long shard of wood, hiding it behind her leg. The demon burst into the alley, bricks crumbling as the door crashed into the wall.
    “I’ve got you now.” He smiled and drummed his fingers together, his claws clicking loudly in the empty alley.
    She took a deep breath as Jean Luc had taught her and concentrated on the demon in front of her. Even though he acted as if he were in control, she could hear his heart beat a rat-a-tat rhythm.
    He frowned. “What do you have behind your back?”
    She smiled even though she wanted to run. “Nothing.”
    He paused for a moment as if deciding what to do. Talia watched the vein in his neck flutter, and she could not only hear his heartbeat but also his blood as it surged through his body. A flowing river that filled her senses. And in that moment, she knew when he would take his next breath and his next move.
    She pulled the shard out from behind her leg a millisecond before he lunged and stabbed him, using his own momentum to drive it deep in his belly.
    He howled and backhanded her. She crashed against the dumpster, grasped its metal lid, and ripped it off its hinges. When he advanced again, she swung it hard against his side.
    “Bitch!” He yanked her hair and pulled her against him.
    The air vibrated around them. Before Townsend could react, Jean Luc appeared, pupils blazing red and fangs elongated. Talia punched the demon in his stomach wound, and he lost his grip. Jean Luc reached for her, and they flashed. Seconds later, she was on the other side of the alley trying to get her bearings.
    Jean Luc flashed again and met the demon head-on, ramming his hand into his chest. The demon grunted and lunged, but Jean Luc sidestepped him, whirled, and brought his elbow up full force into the demon’s back, knocking him to his knees.
    Jean Luc grabbed the demon’s head from behind, and with a swift move, snapped his neck. Talia met Jean Luc’s blood-red gaze. He let go of the head and the body fell to the ground. Within seconds, the demon turned back into his human form.
    Jean Luc’s gaze ran over her body quickly, stopping on her right cheek, which still stung where the demon had smacked her.
    “He hurt you.”
    His voice was no louder than