Forsaken Read Online Free Page A

meant. “I don’t know what’s out there. How am I supposed to know Azelie’s death stopped anything? According to you, there are plenty of bad things out there to be worried about. Living and dead.” The small of my back tickled with beads of sweat under the warm steel I had shoved in my waistband.
    “I won’t stop you, but I ask that you think before you act. Please don’t forget you aren’t yet aware of all that is dark and deadly. Consider the world your enemy.”
    His tone was so ominous I had to ask. “What am I running from?”
    The double doors rattled with the loud thumps of a fist banging against it. “Time for running is over.” He stood to answer the door. “From here, all that is left is the fight.” He bent at the waist and kissed my head similar to Mike. “And me.” He left to answer the door.
    Light spilled in again and washed over everything. Cyrus’s silhouette stood in the bright doorway and another figure stood just in front of him. I couldn’t hear their conversation, but it sounded businessy. So, of course, I kindly eavesdropped. I stood and made my way toward the door as if I were waiting to leave.
    “Dylan,” Cyrus called to me from the door, “I’d like you to meet the new head of security.” He moved and the figure who had stood outside made his way in. “Since Sam and Malcolm have left us, I had to shift around some staff and find a replacement.”
    “Hi,” the stalky man said and jutted out a meaty hand. I shook it curtly and felt sad all over again that sweet Sam had been such an asshole. “My name’s Luke,” Stalky said. “Nice to meet you.”
    “Aren’t you a little short for a storm trooper?” I mumbled dryly. He laughed and held on to my hand longer than was professional. I turned to Cyrus. The situation wasn’t as juicy as I’d originally hoped. “I’ve got to run.”
    “Be safe, please. And that thing you’ve got hidden under your shirt isn’t going to help you.”
    “Is it a tiny alien? That shit’s serious,” Luke joked. I laughed in my belly but didn’t let it come out in a sound.
    “I like this one.” I wagged my thumb in his direction and walked out into the sun. An hour ago, I’d have felt safer standing in the light. After learning there are awful little beasties hiding in every nook and cranny, I felt safe nowhere. “Try not to die, eh.” I patted the new security guy on his thick shoulder.
    I made my way past them and out into the light. The doors shut behind me and I wondered how long it would be until I would have to kill the poor kid for some unspeakable treachery. There was a chance he was one of the good guys, like me. Those days of good and bad, black and white, were gone. The lines between had been smudged with blood and mud. Luke may have been one of the good guys, but I sure as fuck wasn’t.
    I left Embrace hours before its dramatic ‘New Management’ reopening, but the show had already begun. Out front, two workers in black polo shirts and nametags hefted a large vinyl banner from their utility van toward the entrance. Even if I would’ve stayed behind and grilled Cyrus for hours about every last detail, it wouldn’t have mattered; he had his hands full with Primus bullshit. He said he’d be there, but that outlook appeared bleaker with each passing day. 
    “I need to find better friends,” I said as I pulled the creaky door of my Geo shut.
    “Living friends would be a wonderful addition to your cast of characters.”
    I’m not Sylvia fucking Brown. Be useful or move the fuck on.

 
    Chapter 3
    Lupe’s shop looked a little sad with the jumbles of ticker paper balled up in the cracks and crevasses of the foundation, like a party long lost. Not unlike my life. There was a distinct possibility I was a little sad-looking, too.
    The cheap sign, which hung on the door, read ‘Closed’, but I knew better. I knew there was a one-eyed bitch hiding out in the back just waiting for some jackass like me to hand over their