Tempted by the Night Read Online Free Page A

snoot, and the immortal Strangers with equal passion. And any information he found, he’d deliver to the city of Envy and into the hands of the Resistance as soon as possible. Theo and Lou Waxnicki had begun to form an underground group with the intention of learning who and what had caused the Change fifty years ago, and how to combat the immortal Strangers and their zombies. Though new to the group, Luke was determined to become part of the inner circle, and the torn photograph he’d stolen from Ian Marck was just one of the pieces of information he’d soon deliver to the Waxnickis.
    Assuming he completed his mission and got out of here alive.
    â€œI wonder if there’s anything here that might be of interest to them…” he muttered, moving to stand in front of a ceiling-high bookshelf.
    From the time he’d begun to visit Lainey and Marisa here at the Shelby Library, Luke had found the place surprisingly comforting. With high-ceilinged, well-lit, open spaces chock-full of books and filled with the scent of old pages and crisp newer ones, the library had been a draw for him—even aside from the allure of the Bengotti sisters.
    Everyone assumed it was Lainey who attracted his attention, and for a while she certainly had. She was the obvious temptation, with her bright, coppery hair, pouty lips, and generous rack—not to mention her outgoing personality, sense of humor, and slyly flirtatious manner. There wasn’t a straight guy in River Vale who didn’t want to find a way down the vee of her shirt, or up the back of it, or wherever the opportunity allowed.
    And for a while, Lainey and Luke had been a couple.
    The Couple.
    Through their teenaged years, from the time he arrived in River Vale at the impressionable age of sixteen until he left—no, escaped—five years later, they’d had an on-and-off, hot-and-cold thing going.
    Mostly cold.
    But hot often enough that it was hard to quit the habit.
    And then he began to notice—really notice—Marisa. The bookish, serious younger sister who never let her hair down from its ponytail and beat his ass at Scrabble every time they played. She was smart, and she didn’t care what other people thought of her, and—because she read so much—she was also very interesting. Though she wasn’t a fan of fishing, she’d at least tried it without squealing and refusing to touch the worms (unlike Lainey).
    Luke sighed and pushed away the memories, the regrets, the guilt. He wasn’t going to be here long enough that what happened five years ago would matter. As long as Marisa didn’t kick his ass out of here before he finished the job, he’d be golden.
    He wasn’t about to stew on the regrets…even if he was at her mercy.
    Focus , he told himself, with real irritation this time.
    The room was filled with row after row of shelves, and countless volumes. In spite of his urgent need to search the place, Luke found himself reading the titles…and becoming more and more astonished by the subjects of the books. These were subjects he’d never seen during his visits here.
    Holy shit. No wonder they’ve got them hidden away . He curled his fingers into the top of a spine and pulled the thick and heavy Basic Automobile Mechanicals and Electronics: 2010, vol. 30 from the shelf. Next to it was Brimfort’s Encyclopedia of the Mechanical Engine and on the other side was The New Fuel Efficiency. Across the aisle were volumes titled Programming Basics for Dummies , How the Computers Were Hacked , and Building a Secure Computer Network: From Hardware to Code.
    The hair at the back of his neck stood on end as he flipped through the pages. This was precisely the sort of resource the Strangers did not want readily accessible—according to the Waxnicki brothers.
    The books were enough of a threat, but it was the presence of so many computers that really told the story of this hidden chamber. It