A Crack in Everything Read Online Free

nodded. ‘I’ll walk you there.’
    Before she knew what was happening, he slipped his hand around her arm in a supremely old-fashioned manner and escorted her out of the alley, only releasing her to let her get by the bin.
    That odd shiver in the air passed over her again and the sunlight was brighter as they passed through it. Her skin drank in the warmth with unexpected relief.
    Out on the street, the crowd seemed to melt out of Jinx’s way. Or perhaps everyone just avoided him. In the sunlight he didn’t look half as ferocious. She’d been an idiot, panic and her imagination painting a wild image of him. Still, the long hair, piercings and tattoos didn’t exactly cast him as a conformist.
    She glanced at his arm while he marched her down South William Street, his feet alternating between the narrow pavement and the road itself, stepping on and off the kerb as needed, completely at peace with his place in the world. His tattoos weren’t black, as she had thought, but a deep indigoblue. Whorls and spirals covered his skin in some sort of tribal design mixed with Celtic knots. It was intricate and beautiful, contrasting strongly with the porcelain smoothness of his skin and the taut muscles beneath it.
    ‘Where did you get them done?’ she asked.
    He frowned, then followed her gaze and snorted briefly, dismissively, as if they were not something to be admired. ‘Got them a long time ago. There are few left who can do those right these days.’ He sounded almost relieved.
    Izzy tripped over a rising cobble and he had to catch her again before she fell. His touch made her shiver all over and made the warm spark of whatever it was that had invaded her rise again. But it wasn’t comfortable. It made her want to pull away, to rub at her skin where he had touched her until it was raw. Irritated with herself and with his reticent hero routine, she shook herself free.
    ‘I’m fine, really. You don’t have to come with me.’
    Jinx stopped right there in the path and stared down at her. The other pedestrians flowed around the two of them, like water round a rock, their conversations muted and dim. Even the hum of traffic faded when she looked at him. All she could hear was breath, in and out, and the thundering noise of her own heart.
    ‘Where were you going?’ he asked, the edge rubbing off his patience. He lifted his hand to the nape of his neck, massaging the tight muscles there.
    ‘Music shop on Exchequer Street. Denzion are playing at …’She glanced at her watch. ‘Or at least they
were
playing at two.’
    Jinx laughed, the same dismissive snort that set Izzy’s hackles rising. ‘
Denzion
, right? Well, maybe you really did have a lucky escape then.’
    She’d love to see Mari’s face if she heard that one. Dylan’s band were all she talked about these days. Not for her brother’s sake, of course. She had a thing about the bass player and was determined enough to hook up with him that they all ended up dragged along to every gig and public appearance the band did. Not that Izzy minded.
    ‘Not a fan, huh?’ She felt a little guilty. But Dylan would understand, wouldn’t he? Or not. Probably not. Guy-pride would see to that. But apart from him the band were pretty bloody awful. Especially the bass-dork. What was his name again? Jeez, Marianne said it often enough.
    ‘Not as such,’ Jinx said, although his voice softened, and genuine humour inflected it. ‘That guitarist of theirs can play,’ he offered after another moment or two. Izzy’s breath evened out. Dylan, he was talking about Dylan. That assuaged her guilt a little.
    ‘He can. The others though …’ She shrugged.
    ‘At least you seem to have some taste to replace your lack of sense. What were you doing in the alley to begin with?’
    As if she didn’t feel ashamed enough of her foolishness. She should have known better, even in daylight, in the middle of a city. But with the angel there, she hadn’t thought. Instead she’d had