Craving Read Online Free

an angel, a black-winged angel watching me from a distance.
    Kitten pushed her empty bowl to one side and rested her elbows on the table, her chin propped on linked hands. Her gaze fixed on my face as she waited for me to continue, and I shoved the memory away.
    “The sage helps. That’s a technique called smudging. Burning sage helps to cleanse the area of any residual spirit energy. It lets me start with a blank page, so to speak.”
    “What would happen if a bad guy found you? Would you become possessed?”
    Mischievous now, I leaned forward. She followed suit. With our heads close together, I murmured softly, “How do you know I haven’t been already?” then snapped my teeth with a noisy clack. She reared back and started to shove her chair away from the table before she saw me smiling.
    “Oh, you … you’re teasing me.”
    I shrugged and grinned. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.” Remembering my inner-polite-guy, I picked up the dirty dishes and rinsed them under the tap, before loading them into the dishwasher. Alas, the interrogation didn’t stop there. Kitten fished a couple of beers from the fridge and raised her eyebrows in a silent question. “Thanks.”
    Settling herself back at the table, she sprawled in her chair and tucked one leg up onto the seat. She cracked the bottles open while I wiped my hands dry. “How do you do it, Dante? What’s your story?”
    If I had a pound for every time I’d been asked this, I’d have a fleet of Harley-Davidsons now. I bought myself a minute while I sank into the seat opposite her and took a welcome swig of beer. God, I’d love a cigarette right now . “Do you think it’s some kind of party trick? Like I’ll give you a list of things to do and the spirits just magically appear?”
    Her intense gaze caught me by surprise.
    This wasn’t just a conversation question.
    “I’ve met loads of people who claim they can summon spirits, but you’re the first I’ve seen who’s actually done it.”
    I shrugged. Took another slurp of beer. “Maybe it was a group hallucination. I hypnotized you all into thinking you saw an airman.”
    “Nu-huh. Tristan has proof on his hard drive.”
    Are they a couple? Surely not, otherwise he’d be here. Her amber eyes seemed to glow in the soft reflected light, and something tight inside me relaxed a little. I could get used to civilized behavior if it meant having supper with Kitten again. The silence between us was comfortable, and I felt irrationally annoyed when she tilted her head to one side and resumed her questioning.
    “So?”
    “You don’t have anything else to eat do you?”
    Her brows tugged together. “Would cheesecake help you to talk?”
    I laughed. “Okay. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been able to see people, talk to them, when nobody else thought they were there. I don’t know how it happens, or why me instead of the next guy. It just does.” I’m a freak . I took a long drink of the beer, relishing the cool buzz on my tongue, while I waited to see the distaste on her face. “It’s rare to encounter a spirit that everyone can see. We struck lucky tonight. And there’s no guarantee that we’ll get a repeat performance tomorrow. Believe me, it’s out of my control.”
    Her lips twitched. She leaned forward and delicately chinked her bottle against mine. “Judging by how tired you looked earlier, you’ve earned your cheesecake.”
    Confused, I ran a hand through my hair, pushing it back from my face. “Yeah, it was kinda intense tonight.” As I spoke, I automatically fingered my Talisman, secure around my wrist.
    “That’s an unusual bracelet.” She stared at the faded lettering along the edge. “Is that Arabic writing? It looks old. Where did you get it?”
    “Years, I’ve had it years. Can’t remember where it came from,” I lied easily. “You mentioned some cheesecake?”

Chapter
~2 ~
     
     
     

2.1 Katherine
     
     
    T here was no sign of Dante when I crawled out of bed in the