Never Read Online Free

face. He knew that touching him must be incredibly strange for her, an entirely different experience from the tentative way they'd been forced to touch before—under her hands he realized for the first time that his skin was smooth and firm, cool, and he knew that the only flaw her fingers would find was the ridge of scar tissue and the stubble along his jaw line. Over the past few months Piotr had begun to accept the fact that, amid the other souls, he alone was different, solid and firm, unbending, and ultimately unbreakable. He was a statue in a world of fluttering tissue paper.
    “I merely wished to give you time to acclimate to the Never,” he whispered to break the tension of her examining touch and the confusing emotions that were always coupled with his semi-permanence in a universe designed to tear souls down. “It is…difficult at first.”
    Wendy rolled her eyes. “Are all dead guys so decorous? Come here, you skinny lug.” Dropping her examination, she flung open her arms and hugged him tightly. “I missed you, too. Don't let the Walkers make a pincushion out of you next time.” She rested her head on Piotr's shoulder and Piotr tried not to notice that Eddie's expression had gone from pleasure to chagrin.
    “We can touch,” Piotr marveled, threading his fingers through Wendy's, palms pressed flush, neither of them too hot or too cold. For the first time in their relationship, Piotr and Wendy were finally on equal terms.
    “Wow,” Wendy said. “No worries about me reaping you, either. I know I have to get back in my body sooner rather than later, but you gotta admit, this is kind of awesome.”
    “Wrap up the kissy-face crap and let's blow this pop stand. I'm not getting any deader here,” Elle demanded.
    Wendy drew back. Eddie stood near the door, his face turned away, and Piotr had a moment of dismay. As annoying and amusing as he found Eddie, he knew that it was impossible for Wendy to not worry about him—about his feelings or otherwise. Wendy was agenerous soul; Piotr had come to terms with the fact that Wendy loved Eddie just as much as she did him…just in a different way.
    Piotr forced some emotional distance. Eddie was a big boy; he could make his own decisions. He wanted to wait for Wendy, fine, Piotr wouldn't stand in his way. It might not be fair to allow such unbending devotion, but that was Wendy's choice to make, not Piotr's.
    “Agreed,” Lily said, rising to her feet. “Reapers are about, as well. We must be cautious.”
    Wendy pulled her hair back into a loose ponytail as the ghosts headed for the doorway. “Reapers? Are you sure?”
    “There's a tatted-up nurse floating around the floor. Maybe she's not a Reaper per se, but she pushed hard to follow your DNR and got pretty pissy when Pete got the doc to ignore your paperwork.”
    “A DNR?” Wendy paled. “I don't have a DNR. What person in their right mind—” She broke off abruptly, furious. “Oh, those bitches . Seriously? How the hell do they manage to pull those strings so fast ? Doesn't paperwork like that require a notary or something?”
    “Elise?” Elle asked, examining her fingers and picking idly at the ragged edge of one thumbnail.
    “Elise,” Wendy confirmed, sneering. “Or Jane. Though it's mind-boggling that they'd go to such lengths to get me out of the way. Mocking up a DNR? It's just…”
    “Then, for your protection and our own, we ought to leave,” Lily reminded them, glancing out into the hallway. Her body was one taut line, her fleeting expression grave and tense.
    “Speaking of your family,” Eddie added as Lily eased into the hall to make sure the coast was clear, “did you know that Jon and Chel can see us?”
    Wendy frowned. “Jane…Jane said as much. Before. But I didn't believe her.”
    Eddie patted Wendy on the shoulder. “Well, she's telling the truth. Sorry, hun.”
    “No. No. It sucks,” Wendy sighed, “but it makes a sick sort of sense.”
    Lily led the way to the waiting