After Dark (Between the Veils Series, Book One) Read Online Free Page A

you I have all the answers, I’m pretty much as in the dark as you are. As for how it chooses its victims, it makes sense that it’d prey on tourists or paranormal investigators. I mean, who else would be foolish enough to hang out in a cemetery at night, especially in New Orleans, where muggings happen all the time and you have to bribe security guards and workers just to gain access after sunset. But whatever the method, it seems viable that once it picks someone, it performs a very short, very intense form of possession to drain their energy, which, when it’s gained enough, I propose it’ll use it to become corporeal again.”
    “Corporeal?” Temperance snorted, pulling her hand free as she stomped across the room, shaking her head. “Jesus, Avery, do you know what you sound like?”
    “Someone who’s lost their mind?”
    “Irrational, for sure.” She sighed, taking his spot at the desk as she leaned her hip against the edge. “Okay, let’s say you’re right. Why didn’t the entity attack you?”
    He lifted a brow. “Once a demon chooses a body to possess, it can’t change course until it either releases that person or the host dies?”
    “But it never touched me.”
    He pointed at her wrist. “Didn’t it?”
    She glared at him, rubbing the area with her thumb. “I’m not convinced that…thing…did this.”
    “Of course not. Spontaneous tattoos are common here in the south. Or maybe you just stayed out in the sun too long.”
    “Don’t patronize me. This all just a bit…unusual.” She exhaled a slow breath. “So how did you know where to find me anyway?”
    He raised his lips into a wicked smile. “I have my ways.”
    “Let me guess. You used your ‘psychic abilities’ to probe my location in the universe.”
    Avery ran a hand through his hair. God help him, but Temperance Dunnigan was surely going to be the death of him. That, or she’d drive him mad. Either seemed viable as she stood there, shaking her head as she stared him down.
    He cursed and stuffed one hand in his pocket. “Actually, Darrin interrupted the meeting to inform me you’d taken my slot at the cemetery. He was ever so concerned about you going there alone.” He winked at her. “I dare say that boy has a crush on you. Anyway, I suppose you’re just lucky I decided it was a nice night for a drive.”
    “He’s only a few years younger than you, and I believe I already thanked you for saving my life.”
    “And I believe I asked you for the benefit of the doubt for just a few moments.”
    She sighed, looking slightly sheepish. “You’re right, it’s just. Damn, are you really psychic?”
    “I sense certain things…” He paused, doing his best not to read her thoughts, though she was making the feat next to impossible. Still, he stood there, shielding himself, wondering if she was aware of her own latent abilities. “But then I’m not the only one who can do that.”
    Temperance scoffed, looking at him as if he’d truly lost his mind. “Oh no. Don’t even suggest that I’m in any way…gifted. Trust me—I’m the only normal one here.”
    He flashed her a smile, not missing the way her pulse fluttered slightly faster at the base of her neck. Despite her obvious reservations, she was attracted to him.
    He moved over to her, trapping her against the desk as he palmed the surface on either side of her hips, his legs cradled between her thighs. “You’re a lot of things, darling, but normal isn’t one of them. And just because you aren’t aware of it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. I think that’s why you have such a knack for unearthing paranormal hotspots. Subconsciously, you sense the energy.”
    Temperance stared up at him, her breathing more labored, her mouth a thin, pink line. Her gaze darted to either side, as if looking for a way past him before she huffed. “Whether that’s true or not, it doesn’t give us the answers we need. Like who that demon is and why it’s suddenly obsessed with