Free Bear's Baby (Bear Heat Book 4) by Natalie Kristen Page A

okay, I think I'll take a rain
check on that coffee. I'll like to go back and work on that profile.
Y-you did make some very good points, Ross...”
    “You've changed your
mind. You're not going to help me,” Ross said accusingly,
gripping the steering wheel.
    “No, I...of course I'll
help you. It's just that...”
    “Good.” Ross
smiled. “I knew I could count on you. You have a good, kind
heart, Lindy.” His face twisted suddenly. “So much
goodness and kindness in you.”
    Lindy shrank back when Ross
turned to face her.
    “Ross, you...”
she stammered. Choking back a scream, she turned and tried to open
the door but she was a second too slow. The locks engaged with a
click, and the tinted windows darkened to pitch black.
    Lindy was flung back in her
seat as Ross stomped on the accelerator and the car shot forward like
a bullet.
    “Ross...” She
shook her head and swallowed repeatedly. “You're not Ross,”
she said slowly. “W-who are you?”
    Ross turned his head and
Lindy shrank back with a scream. His eyes were changing. His soft,
brown eyes were turning full black. The whites of his eyes were
slowly being swallowed up by that ominous, drowning darkness.
    Lindy yanked desperately at
the door handle again, but she knew she was trapped. The glass was
shatterproof and soundproof. She couldn't escape. She couldn't even
throw herself out of the speeding car. And no one could hear her
scream.
    “Who are you?”
she whispered. “W-where is Ross? What have you done to Dr.
Ross Manolo?”
    “Ross Manolo is dead.”
The voice was still Ross's mellow voice, but the face had changed
completely.
    It was no longer Ross in the
car with her.
    With a stab of pure horror,
Lindy realized that it had never been Ross in the car.
    Ross was dead. And he had
probably been dead for some time. Ross had been more than just her
colleague. He had been her friend and her mentor.
    Lindy blinked back her tears
and howled in fury and fear. “You killed Ross!” she
screeched. “You murderer! Just who are you?” She
curled her fingers into claws and launched herself at him.
    A large hand snared both her
wrists, and she cried out when she felt claws digging into her flesh.
“W-what are you?” she wheezed.
    The mouth curved in an ugly
smile. The face rippled so that she saw what was truly beneath the
mask of Ross's benign face.
    “You...you are...”
Her voice sounded faint.
    “A demon.”
    Lindy struggled to free
herself from that crushing, vice-like grip.
    “Don't make it harder
for yourself, Lindy.” The demon held her with one hand, and
expertly steered the car with the other. He allowed his human skin
to rip apart so that she could see his full demon form.
    Lindy swallowed her horror
and tried to remember her training. It didn't matter what he looked
like. What mattered was his thoughts and intentions. She had to
find out more. She had to keep him talking.
    “I can see you're a
demon,” she stuttered. “W-what's your name?”
    “Palli.” She
heard his pride as he said his name. He layered his voice with his
demon power so that it hissed and echoed in her mind.
    “Okay, Palli,”
she said, letting herself go limp. “I won't struggle.”
    The demon released his grip a
little. Immediately, she wrenched her hands free and lurched for the
steering wheel.
    “You killed Ross!
You're going to kill me too. Fine, we'll die together!” she
screamed, trying to force the car off the road. She would rather die
in a car crash than at the hands of a demon. She didn't know if the
crash would kill the demon as well, but it was worth a shot.
    “Stupid human!”
the demon hissed. He closed his clawed hand around her throat.
Lindy gasped and scratched at him but she was no match for him.
    He slammed her head on the
dashboard and Lindy heard a sickening thud. Blood spurted from her
forehead and down her face. As blood dripped into her eyes, she
flailed weakly and tried to hold on to consciousness even as she felt
everything