Dirty Little Misery (Miss Misery) by Tracey Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

down. “We put these as close to your heart as possible. Most women prefer their backs to their chests though. Up to you.”
    Looked like this would be the second time today I was taking my shirt off without anything fun to show for it. “My back is fine.”
    I sat on the stool Mike indicated and pulled up my hair and shirt. The paste was warm on my skin, and I wondered how many glyphs he was drawing because it felt like a lot of writing.
    “The standard is two glyphs,” Bridget said, as if reading my thoughts. “One is for all-purpose protection. The other is specific to countering the effects of pred magic. That one should make it a lot easier for you to go into Shadowtown without having your soul violated.”
    “Sounds good.” Or it would if I had to deal with that problem.
    The pressure on my back ceased, and I let go of my hair and shirt as Mike dumped the improvised pen on the counter. “You’re all set. Those should last between two to four weeks, depending on how much trouble you get in, or how many preds try working their magic on you.”
    “This is great,” Bridget said as we left the lab room. “We’re finally getting to work together, although we won’t be working on the same case.”
    I forced a smile because “great” didn’t quite describe it for me. I got what Bridget was saying, and it sure beat fighting with her, but no matter how many friendly people I met around this place, I had to consider the Gryphons a threat. And that wasn’t even getting at the blackmailing bit.
    Anyway, I’d see soon enough if Bridget still thought this arrangement was great when my blood analysis came back. Just what would she—and everyone else in my life—think if she discovered that the human with the cursed gift was not so human at all?
    The question made my stomach turn, so I pushed the thought aside and finished my coffee. There was nothing to be done about it. I was what I was, and as far as I knew that couldn’t be changed. It was best, therefore, not to think about it until I was forced to.
    “So am I free to go, and how do I leave?”
    “You are free.” Bridget dumped our empty coffee cups in the trash. “Andre will call you when the analysis is done. I can walk you out.”
    “Actually,” came a new voice from behind me, “I’d be happy to do that. I’d very much like a chance to meet Ms. Moore.”
    Bridget and I had entered a busier part of the floor, and I turned around. The man who’d spoken acknowledged Bridget with a slight tilt of his head before facing me.
    He smiled, but something in that smile didn’t quite reach his eyes, and he held out a hand toward me. “Tom Kassin.”
    Confused by my immediate distrust of him, I took it. “Nice to meet you.” Or not.
    No, probably not. I wished I knew why.
    Tom Kassin was only my height, and with his round baby face, pale blond hair and blue eyes he was almost cherubic. Almost. Because something about him got my hackles up, and I couldn’t figure out what. Thanks to my misery-sucking abilities, I was usually a very good judge of character, and this new Gryphon was setting off all my alarms. Yet when I stretched out my gift toward him, I got nothing. That disconnect left me uneasy. For humans anyway, I always had a good reason if I distrusted someone.
    Bridget didn’t seem to share my strange antipathy toward Tom Kassin. She merely shrugged at his request. “Sure. I’ll talk to you later, Jess.”
    “Yeah, okay.” I returned my attention to Tom, half wondering if I was ever going to get out of this building today.
    He began walking. “I’ve read a lot about you in the files from Victor Aubrey’s case. The gift you described is quite unusual.”
    I was beyond sick of hearing that or similar phrases. “So it seems.”
    We reached the elevators, and Tom pressed the down button, making a few more vacuous comments about my gift as we waited. He had a faint accent, British of some sort, only it wasn’t the same accent as Devon’s. In