Guardian of the Moon Pendant Read Online Free Page B

from underneath my back door.
    I bit my lip, and stared down at that white tobacco stick. I had to give it to the man, he knew my sweet spot. Mom and Anabel just destroyed my last pack of cigarettes. I snagged the ciggy from the floor, rolling it gingerly between my two fingers, and then slid it under my nose, inhaling all of its sinful qualities.
    My hand cradled the doorknob, cracking it open, nudging my nose through the gap to discover Vyx kneeling on his burly knees.
    I swung the door open, a mischievous smile planted on my lips, popping the ciggy between my lips.
    Vyx climbed back onto his feet, hesitating, not knowing if I was going to kiss him or smash the family jewels twice in one night.
    I jumped into the air, straddling my legs around his waist, while Vyx happily lit my ciggy.
    “You know,” Vyx said in a scratchy voice, splaying his thick fingers across my butt, “those will kill you.”
    “Good, I wanna die,” I admitted as he carried me into my bedroom, tossing me down onto my lumpy bed. “What do the Scots say again?”
    “Shyte,” he said devilishly, his gaze scanning the room for something. 
    “Yeah, I just want to get away from all this Shyte,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh, sucking on my cigarette. 
    Vyx flopped down onto my bed, a sinister look carved into his dopey face, his fat fingers snatched up the yellow stained parchment off my nightstand, analyzing it like it was some mystical treasure. “What’s this?” he asked.
    My eyes glanced down to an ivory knife, peeking out of Vyx’s Timberland boots.
    “More like… what’s this?” I said teasingly, unsheathing the dagger from a small pocket nestled inside his boot. My eyes studied the exquisitely carved blade, somewhere I had heard that it was made from a human’s bone. I shivered inside. My eyes darted back at Vyx. Seriously, I wouldn’t put it past him.
    Vyx kicked his chunky boots up onto my nightstand. His nose was buried in the MacAlpin’s scroll. “Just an old blade,” he said dismissively, waving his hand at me like I was an annoying fly, to be swatted away, “I had lying around.”
    “Nice.”
    “This parchment’s real old,” Vyx said, rubbing it between his calloused fingertips, his body tensing as he touched it. 
    I raised my brow. No surprise there, Vyx. It’s old, I get it.
    I continued to collect my deodorant, shampoo, and conditioner into a sleek silvery toiletry bag I had. The only nice thing Anabel ever gave to me. Good thing I filled it with gross things like, maxi pads and tampons.
    “Izzy,” Vyx said, rubbing his crooked jaw, “this scroll can fetch a good price downtown.”
    I whirled around, holding up a pair of black tights in each hand. “Should I take my black leggings,” I said comically, shaking the pair in my left hand, “or my black leggings?” shaking another pair in my right hand.
    I giggled inside. Man, I’m such a cornball with my jokes.
    Vyx just ignored me, his lips mouthing over the strange rune symbols etched onto the ancient scroll.
    He never really did pay attention to me anyway. Maybe, that’s why we were a good fit. I could blab away all night, happily, just knowing someone else was in the room, sort of listening to me. So what if he didn’t truly hear me? He was physically there and that’s more than I ever got from anyone else before.
    “Hell, I’ll take them both,” I declared, rolling them both into a tight ball and stuffing them into my luggage.
    “Rare indeed,” Vyx continued in a raspy voice, still ogling over that stupid scroll.
    “Violet eye shadow, eyeliner…”
    “Betcha it’s worth a small fortune,” Vyx snorted like he won the lottery.
    “Give me that,” I said, snatching the scroll from between his fingers, “And get your ugly boots off my table!”
    Vyx snarled.
    I held the bone dagger in the palm of my other hand, returning it to Vyx, an eerie feeling of dread tingled up my spine, its blade gleaming in the overhead light.
    “Gonna cut