Faustine by Imogen Rose Read Free Book Online

you know about the party, anyway? Did Neave contact you?”
    He plunked himself down on my bed. I sure hoped that Mom wouldn’t pop into my room. I would be so grounded for having a boy in here!
    “It was Audrey, actually, who told me about the party. But, I’m guessing Neave initiated it. I’ve wanted to ask you out for ages, so it was pretty cool to hear that you have the hots for me,” he grinned.
    “Now, wait...” I protested, feeling my face turning a molten shade of red.
    Ryker grabbed my hand and pulled me down to sit next to him. “I’m just messing with you. But seriously, I’m glad they set us up. I've totally had a thing for you for a really long time.”
    “Why didn’t you ever speak to me?”
    “To tell you the truth, I was–am–a bit afraid.”
    I laughed. “You’re afraid of me?”
    “You’re a demon,” he replied matter-of-factly.
    “ Half demon,” I corrected. “And I’m a demon princess, which means that I don’t go around creating havoc. That would be very unprincessy of me.”
    “What about your demon temper?” he asked.
     “It used to be a problem. That’s why I was sent to the Academy. But I have it under control now.”
    “Come here,” he said, and pulled me down to rest my head on his shoulder. “I really like you,” he whispered, and turned to brush his lips against mine. I wasn’t sure how to respond; this had never happened to me before. I moved my lips gently across his. I could feel myself warming up, starting to feel hot. He parted my lips slightly with his and kissed me. I moved against him, feeling more and more drawn to him, like I was falling into him. And I was on fire–literally. My skin was burning. This was beyond embarrassing; I pulled back.
    “What’s wrong?” Ryker whispered, and then opened his eyes. “Wow! You’re glowing!”
    Awkward. My skin was glowing like a fire was illuminating it from the inside. We sat in silence, watching my glowing skin. The glow started to subside after a few minutes, then disappeared entirely.
    “That was... amazing,” Ryker muttered. “How did that happen?” Then he smirked. “Never mind. Did it hurt?”
    I shook my head. “It burned a bit, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. This is so embarrassing. I’m sorry. I guess you want to go?”
    “Go? Why? You mean ‘cause your skin starts glowing when I kiss you? Don’t be silly. We’ll just have to take it easy. Just to make sure you don’t explode or anything,” he laughed.
    I grabbed a pillow and thumped him with it. And kept hitting him. This wasn’t funny; tears were streaming down my face. Why couldn’t I just be normal? Like Mom.
    “Hey, hey, hey,” he said, grabbing my wrists and pulling me into his chest tightly. “It’s going to be fine. I’m sorry for teasing you.”
    I lay back against him, recomposing myself.
    A sharp tap on the door made me pull away from Ryker. I motioned for him to get into my closet. With Ryker safely stashed away, I opened the door.
    “Hey,” Luke said, walking in with Neave and the twins. “Your mom told us to come straight in after we explained what happened at the party.”
    “Wassup?” Ryker asked, walking out of my closet.
    “It was just like we thought; the cops questioned us. Obvious stuff, mostly, about what we’d heard or seen. Who else had been at the party? Etcetera, etcetera. They took down our names and contact information, then just let us go. There’s more, though,” Luke added cryptically. “Audrey will tell you. It’s not good, so prepare yourself.”
    “Faustine, as you know, I can hear human thoughts, the same as you. In addition, I can also visualize them, if those thoughts are strong enough. The cop who was questioning us had been in the men’s restroom. He was obviously traumatized by what he had seen, and his thoughts were preoccupied with visuals from the restroom. I could see them quite clearly. I won’t describe the gory state of the body, but I want to draw your attention to