Page 1 of Bad Blood Bear

Chapter 1

The blood hunger was coming over her again.

Lissa Ramsey stood on the sidewalk outside the diner, leaning against the plate glass window and trying not to inhale the smell of cooking meat.

Blood. Kill. Devour.

This wasn’t ordinary hunger, although her stomach was growling from lack of food. This was the demon—the darkness that had been growing inside her ever since the night she ran away from the compound in Arkansas.

Since she ran away from Brother Damien.

Just thinking his name made her feel sick and dizzy. Memory fragments tormented her: candles and chanting, blood and smoke. A forest. Running, falling, scrambling to her feet and running again. Sharp branches slapping her face and arms; the snarl of wild animals. Pain and fear and a terrifying red haze of rage.

Nausea hit her, and Lissa began to shake.

Blood. Kill. Devour.

The demon was clawing at her insides. It made her want to lash out, hurt people, rend flesh and taste blood. It made her do things she didn’t even remember.

It was turning her into a monster.

So she stayed on the road, moving from town to town, trying to outrun the things she’d done. But she couldn’t outrun the demon.

It wanted living flesh, she knew it did. But when she was desperate, when she and the demon were both desperate, it would accept dead meat, if it was rare and bloody enough.

The diner door opened and a young couple came out, followed by a puff of burger-scented air. Lissa’s mouth watered, and the demon growled inside her.

Blood. Hunt. Kill. Devour.

Lissa steadied herself and took a deep breath. It’s not real, she told herself. Just some kind of traumatic delusion. Or just, you know, a complete mental breakdown. But it certainly wasn’t supernatural.

Whatever it was, the only way to keep it at bay was to feed it.

Hands shaking, Lissa dug out the small zippered purse she kept her money in and counted the bills. She probably had enough for a small burger, if she didn’t get any fries or soda. It was stupid to spend it all on one meal, though. She could get two or three days’ worth of canned tuna and crackers for the same money.

But the demon didn’t care about the future. It had already taken control of her legs, and she was walking helplessly to the door of the diner. As soon as she opened the glass door and stepped inside, the smell of cooking meat nearly brought her to her knees.

The red haze spread across her vision, and her fingers curled into claw-like curves. Her legs buckled, and she would have gone down except for the strong hands that caught her from behind just as she started to fall, setting her carefully on her feet.

“Are you okay?”

The voice was a low rumble, so deep she felt the vibration in her chest. Lissa whirled around, almost stumbling again. The hands belonged to a huge mountain of a man, the size of a pro wrestler. His face was all hard chiseled planes, with sexy scruff around a grim mouth that had lines saying it used to smile a lot, but hadn’t lately. His dark blond hair was mussed, like he’d run his hands through it in frustration, and his eyes were a surprisingly soft moss green.

The demon froze inside her, looking through her eyes at the man.

Want!

Without thinking, Lissa reached up with both hands and pulled his head down to hers, kissing him on the mouth. His lips were warm, and after a surprised second they softened under hers. Every inch of his body was hard muscle, and he smelled amazing, like a sunlit forest glade in the spring.

Want. Bite. Mine.

The demon gave a little growl, and nipped the man’s lower lip. He jerked back and they stared at each other.

Holy fuck, what had she just done?

The man wiped the back of his hand across his lip and gazed at it, as if looking for blood. Lissa backed away.

At that moment, the waitress appeared. “Two?” she asked, raising the menus she was holding.