Falling Darkness: The second book in the Falling Awake Series Read Online Free

that for a moment. I’d never seen a ghost, but there was no doubt in my mind that they existed. “Yeah, I guess I do,” I said.
    Matoskah smiled at me. “Me too.”
    I sipped my drink. “So how do you like it over at La Conner?” I asked him.
    “It’s alright. The girls don’t look half as good as you, but hey, I’ll survive.” I let out a small laugh. “How very original.”
    “I try.” The cold was seeping into my coat and clinging to me. My teeth started chattering. “Want to take a walk?” Matoskah asked me. “Not far, just around the mausoleum.”
    I looked out through the almost bare branches of the trees. Honestly, I didn’t want to go anywhere near that empty darkness. But I didn’t want to sit here, freezing my ass off either. The coziness of the spaced out candles, flickered around us and I figured as long as I stayed nearby, It wouldn’t t hurt to take a walk. “Okay, yeah.”
    Matoskah held out his hand to me and helped me to my feet. I brushed my coat down and we walked down the steps and along the surrounding area of the mausoleum. I glanced nervously through the trees. I stopped walking, and a few steps ahead of me, Matoskah turned around. Burnt orange leaves rustled around my feet, rolling along the grass with the wind.
    “Hey, you okay there?” He tipped my chin up and held onto my arm. “You look a little pale.”
    I straightened myself up. “I’m fine. I just got a little dizzy that’s all.”
    Matoskah looked worried. “Do you need to sit back down?”
    “No, I’m okay.” I finished my drink and Matoskah took my empty cup from me.
    “No more for me I think.”
    “Are you drunk?” He found the question amusing. He probably thought I couldn’t handle my alcohol. Well he was right… I couldn’t.
    “I’m not drunk, no. Tipsy, maybe.” I smiled. “This cold air should clear my head soon. Let’s just keep walking.” We walked side by side, skirting the edge of the wood. “Are you half Spanish or something?” Matoskah asked me. “I hope you don’t mind me asking. You’ve just got something a little different about you.”
    “My mom’s native American,” I said.
    “Ah, me too in case you hadn’t already guessed.”
    “I kinda guessed.”
    “Your mom must be very beautiful.”
    I could feel the flush in my cheeks, despite the freezing temperature. “She is.”
    I stole a quick look over at him. There was something about him that was hard to ignore. His crisp, turquoise-blue eyes creased at the corners and I quickly turned away when I realized I was staring. He was better looking than I first gave him credit for, and in a very unique kind of way.
    “So, this boyfriend of yours. Where is he?”
    “He’s not my boyfriend,” I said. “And I don’t know where he is. Don’t care either.”
    “Very convincing,” said Matoskah.
    “It’s true.”
    “How has someone as beautiful as you, not got a boyfriend?”
    I shrugged my shoulders. “Maybe I don’t want one.”
    “Or maybe you just haven’t found anyone that’s worthy of what you can do.”
    I stopped midstride. “What did you just say?”
    Matoskah slowed and turned to face me. He drew his eyebrows together. “I said, maybe you just haven’t found anyone that’s worthy of you. Are you sure you’re okay? You really don’t look okay.”
    “Sorry, I thought you said something else.”
    “I didn’t mean to offend you,” he said softly. “I’ll shut up.”
    I felt the darkness pressing in on me, and I turned full circle when I realized the noise from the party wasn’t as loud, and the glow of the candles was gone. When had we come into the woods? I hadn’t even noticed. “I need to get back,” I said. “I never meant to come this far out. I thought you said we would stay next to the mausoleum?” I stepped forward to find a break in the trees, and a loud snapping noise held me frozen. It was so loud, it echoed through the wood. “What was that?” I whispered to Matoskah. He didn’t