Soul Whisperer Read Online Free Page B

sticky and wet.
    â€œThey can…what?” he said.
    She lifted her hand to examine it, staring with disbelief at the crimson stain coating her palm. He captured her wrist and suddenly his horror was hers.
    â€œYou’re bleeding!” Cesar turned toward the officer. “Get the EMTs over here, now!”
    â€œNo.” She grasped his shoulder with her clean hand, feeling the warmth of his body even through the fabric of his blazer. She swayed and closed her eyes, sending a silent signal for help, knowing that any Skinwalkerwithin a wide range would come immediately to her aid. When she opened her eyes it was to see a look of exasperation on his handsome face.
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œI prefer to work in my own HMO.”
    He shook his head, clearly not understanding. She sighed. For reasons she could not quite fathom, she didn’t want him thinking of her animal half. Spelling it out for him would only remind him.
    His brow furrowed and he glanced toward the officer behind them. “I’m getting help.”
    She grabbed his arm. “No. If they anesthetize me, I’ll turn.”
    He paused, looking back at her. “To a raven?”
    She nodded, meeting his wide-eyed stare. He understood now.
    â€œWell, you need treatment.”
    â€œNot an emergency. I’ve sent for help already.”
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œAs soon as I realized I was injured. We have a kind of emergency call system. When one of us is ill, in danger or in great emotional distress, a signal goes out. Any Skinwalker within a few hundred miles will read it. They would also have perceived my danger in the forest and plus I just sent a call a moment ago that I am wounded.”
    Cesar glanced around, looking uncomfortable for the first time since she’d met him.
    â€œThey’ll come?” he asked.
    â€œMost definitely. Until then, could you take me home?”
    He wrapped an arm about her shoulders and guided her toward his vehicle, a nondescript blue sedan. Unlikehis attire, his vehicle seemed chosen to be invisible among them.
    His fingers grazed her neck as they walked side by side.
    Bess’s head swam as apprehension swept in, followed by guilt marching through her like an army of ants. It took a moment to recognize these were not her emotions.
    â€œLet go,” she whispered.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œYou’re making me dizzy.”
    The finger that stroked her neck dropped away, but he immediately captured her shoulder as he drew out a remote and unlocked the car doors.
    â€œDo you need to tell your partner that you’re leaving?” she asked, and then felt his grip tighten.
    â€œI work alone.”
    She studied the grim line that now replaced the sensual curve of his mouth and the glittering rage that turned his eyes cold as gray marble. She lifted a hand to his face and read betrayal.
    â€œWhat happened?” she asked.
    He squinted, giving her a slight shrug of incomprehension. “What?”
    â€œWith your old partner, the one you’re still so pissed at?”
    His eyes popped open and he removed her hand from his face, placing it on the door frame then stepping away, clamping his jaws shut as tight as an alligator grabbing a turtle.
    â€œOh, like that, is it? All right, not my business.” She glanced at the car’s interior. “I’m going to bleed all over your upholstery. You have a blanket or something?”
    He released the trunk and returned with a yellowrain slicker, laying it out on the seat. “You sure I shouldn’t take you to a hospital?”
    She slipped in and groaned as her injured hip twinged. Blood smeared the yellow slicker. She glanced at the stain, wondering if she’d underestimated the seriousness of her injury.
    â€œWhere do you live?” he asked, starting the car and pulling out of the park lot.
    â€œSummit of Russian Hill.”
    He made a sound in his throat that could have been recognition or a growl of