Embraced (Eternal Balance) by Jus Accardo Read Free Book Online

of my wrist but resisted, figuring it would only make him antsier. When I pulled back the curtains, I groaned. There on the step was the worst possible visitor. A demon might have actually been preferable. It was our next door neighbor—my Aunt Kelly. “Our messy living room and my spanking new demon jewelry isn’t our only problem…”

Chapter Five
    Jax
    “N ot good…” Sam yanked the curtains back into place and spun around. The link between us surged to life, a fresh wave of panic flooding through it.
    I frowned. The last thing we needed with a house full of corpses was an uninvited visitor. “There was a lot of noise. Did someone call the cops?”
    “It’s Kelly!” she said, stomping her foot. “ Kelly is standing on the front porch.”
    Perfect fucking timing, as usual. I scanned the living room. The place looked like the set of a high budget slasher flick, blood and bodies strewn all over. “Get rid of her,” I snapped. We didn’t need Sam’s nosey aunt poking around right now. Or ever. She didn’t know about me and I intended to keep it that way.
    Sam took a deep breath and opened the door a crack. “Kelly,” she said, voice ringing with forced cheerfulness. Kelly should have been able to see through it. She’d raised Sam, after all. But she was as clueless now as she had been when we were young. “It’s after midnight. Are you okay?”
    “I heard loud noises.” The elder Merrick tried to push into the house, but Sam blocked her.
    “Noises? What kind of noises?” When Kelly found out Sam moved from her apartment and in with me, her head exploded. There was yelling and screaming and large amounts of dramatic bullshit. She’d never been a fan, always pushing Sam toward my brother Chase who, ironically, was the real bad seed. Usually I never missed an opportunity to rub our living situation in her face, but I kept quiet now. “I haven’t heard any noises.”
    Kelly tried to push past her again. “Don’t play games with me, Samantha. I know what I heard. Things falling and breaking. Clanking and clattering. It sounded like a war over here.”
    “Clanking and clattering,” Sam repeated, nodding her head.
    “Is he manipulating you?” Kelly dropped her voice. I couldn’t see around Sam, but I’d bet she was squinting. The damn woman loved to squint. “Making you pay your rent in the form of favors ?”
    Sam nearly choked, and I snorted. “Is he…favors? Are you insane ? Where do you come up with this shit?”
    A gasp. “Language, Samantha!” She paused, then let go of an overly dramatic sigh. “I told you he was trouble. I warned you—”
    “Sex!” Sam blurted out. “We were having sex. Wild, crazy, animal-like sex.”
    I would have given both nuts to see Kelly’s face.
    “Yep,” Sam continued, running with it. She shifted her body to block the possibility of even a pinhole view. “It got a little intense. He’s into some kinky stuff. You should see his—”
    Kelly gasped again, and a moment later I heard her footsteps as she power-walked away.
    “Thank God,” Sam said, closing the door. She turned back to me, cringing at the mess. “So what now?”
    I folded my arms and leaned back against a clean spot on the wall. “You didn’t finish your conversation with Kelly. See my what , exactly?”
    “Your ego,” Sam fired back. “So damn big it barely fits in the door.” She wiggled her hand. “Can we focus here?”
    “Okay,” I said, giving up and stepping away from the wall. The ease with which she was taking all this worried me. Sam was a tough cookie, but she seemed unfazed by the carnage. Strangely detached. “We need to find out what the hell that thing is on your wrist. I don’t love the idea, but if Heckle can’t remove it, we might have to hunt this Malphi down…”
    “Agreed.” She nodded and stuffed both hands into her pockets, avoiding my gaze. “But, mess first. Let’s focus on that. Okay? We can’t risk someone finding bloody corpses in your