Fury’s Kiss Read Online Free

Nora Katsaros, when she literally stumbled upon it. Sources tell us that Katsaros described the remains to police as ‘grotesque’, citing the body’s distinctly purple hue and severe bloating.”
    She paused to look up at me, and I waved her on.
    “The deceased has been identified as twenty-nine-year-old Clinton Miller, an ex-convict employed by DeVille Developments. Although the death does not appear to be related to Miller’s employment with the company, police urge anyone who knew or worked with Miller to come forward with any information they might have, however unrelated it may seem. The cause of death has not been released.”
    “So, what are you saying?” she asked when she’d finished reading. “That you had something to do with this?”
    I nodded, still sniffling.
    “Tara, look at the article,” she tried to reason with me. “There’s no way you did this. The guy was bloated and purple, like he’d been strangled or…I don’t know, drowned. And we’re talking about a grown man here—you’re like a hundred and twenty-five pounds soaking wet. It’s physically impossible.”
    “It couldn’t have been strangulation if the body was bloated,” Rachel pointed out. “Or drowning, either. The color and bloating are signs of hypoxia, but a strangulation victim wouldn’t be puffy. Neither would someone who’d drowned, unless they’d been left in the water a while.”
    I just looked at her. “Hypoxia?” I had no clue what she’d just said, but at least she wasn’t trying to persuade me I was crazy.
    “Oxygen deprivation,” Rachel clarified. “Whatever happened to him, you couldn’t have had anything to do with it.”
    “I’m telling you,” I insisted, “ I did this . I killed this guy. He tried to rape me and I sucked the life out of him somehow.”
    At the word rape , Alex jumped up and began to pace. “You’re just confused, maybe feeling guilty about what happened last night.”
    She was only half right—I had been feeling confused all morning, but I damn sure didn’t feel guilty. Clinton Miller had gotten what he deserved. I thought of what the now-dead attempted rapist had tried to do to me and my thoughts went red with rage, like they had the night before. My muscles contracted, ready for a fight, and I welcomed the angry tension that thrummed through my body. It felt better than the fear that had kept me hiding in my bedroom all morning.
    “I’m not confused.” I jumped up too. “And I sure as hell don’t feel guilty. That bastard got what was coming to him.”
    “Tara, what’s wrong with your eyes?” Rachel took a step back and raised her hands in a placating gesture. There was nervousness in the lines of her forehead and the tension around her mouth, but it just made me angrier.
    “What do you mean, what’s wrong with my eyes? Why are you looking at me like that?”
    “How badly were you hurt last night?” Alex backed away a few wary steps. “Did you get hit in the head?” Her eyes darted to the door.
    I growled, remembering how Miller had shoved me into the hard brick wall. “Yeah, I did. Along with having my arm nearly broken and almost being raped. So what’s your problem?”
    They were my roommates, my supposed best friends, and they were looking at me like I was insane.
    “It must be broken blood vessels, from being hit in the head,” Rachel murmured.
    “Yeah, sure,” Alex muttered back. “And they decided to go ahead and pop a day later.”
    With every step I took closer to my roommates, they took another in the opposite direction. Alex gnawed at the inside of her cheek, clearly working up the courage to approach me. Finally, she took a deep breath and grabbed my good arm to propel me into the bathroom, where she turned me to face the mirror. When she let go of my arm, she wiped it subconsciously against the leg of her shorts, as though I might be infected with something contagious. Her eyes were wide and frightened, and she held her breath as she