Eden by Candice Fox Read Free Book Online Page A

the top of my stomach, under my ribs, hard like a stone. I knew that nothing short of finding Hades’ watcher would shift this ball of anxiety. I was in this now. The mere fact Hades had told me he was being threatened meant I was on the case.
    I must have sighed, because Hades laughed as he got out of his chair. He sounded like a man who liked trapping things, watching them bash around the cage.
    “Coffee?” he asked.

T hat evening I was feeling good. A combination of sun exposure, a couple of tall ice-cold beers, and a new project to work on had me pretty upbeat. I sat at the bar in my local with a coaster and pen and began planning how I would tackle Hades’ problem. I made a couple of calls, just to be certain that there wasn’t a pending investigation, state or federal, that might mean that someone was surveilling Hades. My list of things to do was pretty extensive when someone brushed against my shoulder. I looked up into Eden’s eyes as she sat down beside me.
    “Jesus, Eden, you’re like a bloody stalker.”
    “Lovely to see you, too.”
    “What have I done now? I’ve been an absolute angel today. I didn’t trash my place. I went and spoke to Hades. I surrendered to his blackmail with a handshake and a polite smile. I’ve had two beers. Two.” I held up two fingers.
    “If I had a doggy biscuit I’d give it to you,” she said. “I’m here to brief you on the missing girls case. We’ve been signed up, as predicted by yours truly.”
    “I’ve got two sessions with the shrink left yet.”
    “And you’re doing them, back to back, tomorrow morning.”
    “Oh fuck off.”
    She nodded to the bartender. “Merlot.”
    “What do you mean I’m doing them tomorrow morning? You’re coming with me, aren’t you?”
    “I did mine this afternoon after Captain James signed me on.”
    I exhaled. The tiniest smile crept to the corner of her mouth as she took the wine from the bartender and sipped it.
    “I can’t believe you’d leave me alone with that woman when you’ve seen how she bullies me,” I said. “You obviously have no regard for my spiritual well-being.”
    “You’re right. I don’t.”
    She took a slim shoulder bag from beside her and brought it to her lap, slapped a manila folder on the furry bar runner in front of us.
    “Happy birthday to you.”
    “Urgh. I’m not doing this on an empty stomach. Can I get you dinner?”
    “As long as you don’t go telling anyone.”
    “Oh. Should I take it off Facebook then?”
    She smiled wider.
    “Relationship status: It’s complicated.”
    She laughed. It was a deep and soft musical laugh, something I’d heard only once or twice since I’d known her. Two or three beats and it was gone. It was thrilling, getting Eden to laugh. Something I imagined circus trainers feel when they get a tiger to stand on its hind legs for the first time.
    We moved to a booth and ordered steaks. I accompanied mine with a scotch. I was surprised when Eden slid onto the leather seat beside me. She smelled good. I’d been attracted to Eden when I first met her—she was beautiful and dark like an enchanting witch from a fairy tale, and as with all practiced evil beings she could look like a child in the light of one room, a queen in the next, a she-wolf in the dark. But over our time together the attraction had changed. My fear of Eden, of what she had done and what she was capable of, bound me to her like a magnet. In some ways I wanted to know everything she had done but was afraid of letting her get her claws deeper into me. She was irresistible, like the carnage of a road accident. Something inside me wanted to see the blood, hear the screaming. I wanted to know exactly how bad she was.
    “These are our missing girls,” Eden said, opening the folder and laying out three photographs.
    They could have been sisters but for the tiniest of details—one’s nose was a little upturned, one had curly hair, one smiled with big square white teeth while the others