Ethereal Knights by Addison Moore Read Free Book Online

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    “I mean, just you guys and”—she glances back at Bree—“Drake will be there. Kate and Nat can come. My mom has this thing about my stepbrother meeting people. I know she’ll be okay with it.” She gives a mournful smile as if she were reliving a bad memory.
    “Sounds good.” I pick up her hand, low by her thigh so Gage won’t see. But I can’t tell you in a room full of people. We need to be alone—just you and me.
    Tell me now. No one will know.
    Alone.
    Am I going to freak out when I hear it?
    I erect the shroud that barricades her from my thoughts.
    You don’t think I can handle it, do you? She knits her brows together, and I want to soothe her with my lips right here in the bowling alley.
    It’s not that I don’t think you can’t handle it. I say it with as much tenderness I can afford. Once you realize who you are, you won’t ever get a chance to go back.
    Who am I?
    Skyla. The girl who launched a thousand boners in the Oliver family alone, but I don’t share that part with her.
    Not funny, she says. I don’t scare easy.
    You’re lying. I pull my lips to the side. Chloe’s ghost can testify to that.
    You’re saying it’ll frighten me?
    I give a slight nod. It will, and it should.
     

 
    Gage
     
     
    On the night of Skyla’s party, I wait out on the driveway for Logan so we can take off and I can get the rejection out of the way for the evening. That’s what it’s starting to feel like with Skyla and me—hopeless. 
    Up above, the clouds weigh heavy and brooding as if they’re about to unleash all unholy hell. A raven spins in the sooted sky. Nevermore. He’s my residual gift from Chloe—perhaps the only good thing that came from her obsession with me. She impressed him with my blood and now we’re bonded until I croak or decide to gift him to someone else.
    I toss a pebble in the air at Nev and watch as he tries to catch it in his beak. He swoops down to earth with his wings flapping in and out like a cape, landing with a thud on my shoulder. I yank the stone from his mouth.
    “You did it.” I jerk my shoulder until he bounces onto the hood of Logan’s truck. The last thing I need today is Nev taking a crap on me. I pull on a grey flannel over my T-shirt. Girl’s swears this color brings out the Pacific Ocean in my eyes, and I’m trolling the bottom of the barrel for Skyla’s attention. I toss the pebble in the air again, and Nev turns his head as if he didn’t see it. Lazy bird.
    “Watch over her, dude,” I whisper. “Keep an eye on her at all times. This one’s special.” I flick my finger and Nev takes off in the direction of Skyla’s house.
    Skyla’s house—it’s really Chloe’s house, or at least it was. God knows I logged my fair share of hours there doing who knows what. Actually, I do know what I was doing and for whom. Maybe someday I’ll get to share that with Skyla. It’s definitely nothing I want to mention before we pass go, so I put it out of my mind and try to forget about it.
    Skyla Messenger can make me forget just about anything. I really think Chloe would have liked her once she got to know her. Hell—for that matter, I’d like to get to know Skyla. I wouldn’t mind some one-on-one time with her in the butterfly room. That could be our place—just Skyla and me.
    In my mind’s eye, it plays out like a movie. I envision Skyla sitting on my lap, stripping off her sweater nice and slow. I reach back and unbuckle her bra, run my tongue down her neck right between her chest until she tips her head back and groans.
    Logan smacks me in the arm, yanking me from my fantasy long before I’m ready.
    “Dude,” he snipes. “You got a fucking hunting knife in your jeans? Pull it together, would you?” He unlocks his truck, and a crow screams from the sound of the horn going off. “And would you stop thinking about Skyla?”
    “Yes, sir.” I salute him with my middle finger as he hops in the truck. I teleport into the passenger’s seat