Grim Rites by Bilinda Sheehan Read Free Book Online Page A

just call me babe?” I asked, my voice as dry as tinder as I planted my hands on my hips.
    “Maybe…” he said, with a smirk, and the bike roared to life.
    “Well, don’t!” I said, folding my arms over my chest before I mentally kicked myself. There was nothing snappy about my comeback—in fact, it bordered on pathetic. All I could do was chalk it up to the morning I was having. Clearly, turning into a mass murderer dulled my sarcastic wit. The sooner I could get to the bottom of whatever was going on with the mark on my shoulder, the sooner I could get back to the relatively normal life I’d attempted to build for myself.
    Although, how would I do that after everything I’d learned? One step at a time. And unfortunately the first step involved another crime scene. It seemed that in King City, all the residents wanted to do was kill each other, and when it was preternatural, well, I could only imagine the mess I was about to walk into.
    “You going to stand there all day looking adorable?” Nic teased.
    With a sigh, I dropped my arms and grabbed the helmet from his hands once more. Life was certainly complicated enough without adding a sex-on-legs distraction into the mix. Although, if I was honest with myself, I was glad he was coming with me—I just couldn’t let him know that. The longer he believed I was simply suffering his presence, the better for both of us….
    Shit, I really needed to learn to lie to myself a little better.

Chapter 7
    T he street was eerily silent as Nic killed the engine on his bike. Either everyone was still in bed or … well, I wasn’t really sure what the alternative was.
    Tugging the helmet off, I shook my hair free and stared around at the empty houses. Everything looked run-down and more than a little dilapidated. Mia’s yard had a look of neglect, far more than any of the other houses in the area, and as I peered up at the front door and the windows, I swallowed back the pity that threatened to squeeze my throat shut. Every one of the windows were covered in a thick layer of newspaper and cardboard.
    I could already imagine what the inside of her house looked like.
    The last time I’d seen her, she was struggling to control her empathetic nature. Going out in public was getting harder and harder, and by the looks of the house, it had come to a climax.
    Guilt gnawed at my insides. I shouldn’t have left her alone; I should have done more to help her. Of course, wishing I could change things now wasn’t going to do her any favours. If I could help her with whatever problem she’d called me about, then maybe it would go a little of the way towards easing my own conscience.
    “What did you say your friend was?” Nic asked, his gaze taking in the abandoned street with all the training of someone who’d spent time in the military running drills in preparation for covert operations.
    “I didn’t,” I said, my attention consumed by the house in front of me.
    “And she’s a friend, right?” Nic said, his hand sliding to the gun I knew he had clipped on his back beneath his jacket. I’d felt it pressing into me for the entire ride over.
    “Mia? Yeah, why? What’s wrong?” I asked, dragging my gaze away from the house.
    “You don’t feel it?” he asked, casting a sideways glance in my direction.
    “Nope, what am I supposed to feel?” I asked, pushing my emotions away as I fought to control my senses. If Nic was feeling something, then I should have been able to feel it, too. I wasn’t used to being so sensory blind; my magic usually gave me a pretty good read on everything going on around me, but this….
    “There’s nothing,” he said, and I placed my hands on my hips, confusion causing my headache to intensify.
    “Nothing? I thought you said there was something to feel?”
    “That’s what I mean, there’s nothing. Nowhere in the city is there such a feeling of emptiness. Come on, Amber, tell me you feel it, too.”
    I closed my eyes and reached out with