Haunted by Kelley Armstrong Read Free Book Online Page A

residents, like the portly gangster, played along with the period. But if I was here, that meant Jaime really had banished me. Damn.
    There were ways to avoid banishing. A few months before, Kristof had needed a necro’s help, and went to one who owed him major favors. Guy made the mistake of thinking Kristof’s death canceled out those IOUs, then made the even bigger mistake of trying to banish Kristof when he came to collect. Kris had done something that rendered the necro’s banishing powers impotent for the next few months, a reminder that you didn’t screw with a Nast—even a dead one.
    So all I had to do was track down Kristof and ask for his help. Sounds easy enough…except for the part about asking Kristof for help. Oh, he’d give it to me—without a moment’s hesitation and with no expectation of anything in return. That was the problem. When I took something, I always gave something back—no favors owed, no debt remaining. While I counted Kris as a friend—the best I had in the ghost world—I hated asking him for anything. I’d taken enough from him already.
    Better to try again on my own.
     
    Jaime’s dressing room was empty.
    “Damn,” I muttered.
    There were ways to track a necro, but I hadn’t bothered to learn them. We were in Chicago, in late March. If she’d left the building, she’d have taken her coat, which was gone, as was her purse. But the suitcase with her outfit for the show was still here. I remembered her bout of dry heaves earlier, and guessed she’d gone onstage with an empty stomach. Now she’d likely slipped out for chow.
    I considered dropping in on Savannah, giving Jaime time to eat and return. It’d only been a few hours since my last check-in, but a lot can happen to a teenage girl in a few hours. And yet…well, I had Jaime in my sights, and I hated to veer off track, even for Savannah. I’d almost certainly have time for a check-in after dealing with Jaime, as I waited for the Fates to prepare Janah. Better to stay on the trail for now.
     
    I found Jaime a few doors down, sitting at a café window, pushing salad around her plate.
    “Doesn’t look very appetizing to me, either,” I said.
    This time she didn’t jump, just turned and glared.
    “You know what I don’t get?” I said, taking the seat across from her. “How they can serve weeds like dandelion greens and expect people to pay triple what they would for regular lettuce.”

    “Leave me alone,” she said, without moving her lips.
    “I just want to talk to you.”
    “And this seems like a good place to do it?” she whispered. “Do you know what I’m doing right now? I’m talking to myself.”
    Her gaze cut to the table beside her, where an elderly woman stared, brow furrowed, at the poor woman carrying on a conversation with an empty chair.
    “Damn. That is a problem.”
    “Which is why you aren’t supposed to contact me in public,” she said, again trying to talk without moving her lips.
    “You want to go outside?”
    “I’m eating.”
    “Doesn’t look like it.”
    Another glare. She forked a few weeds into her mouth.
    “Tell you what, then,” I said. “You eat, I’ll talk.”
    She opened her mouth to snap something back, then stopped and rubbed a hand over her eyes. Her shoulders sagged, and when she pulled her hand away, there was an exhaustion in her face that no makeup could hide.
    “Go ahead,” she murmured.
    She listened, without comment, to an edited version of my story. Then she stifled a snort of laughter.
    “Eve Levine, on a mission from God. I really must be wearing my stupid face today.”
    “Trust me, if I were making this up, I’d have come up with something more believable. Remember a couple of years ago when Paige and Lucas ended up in the ghost world? Ever wonder how they got back? I cut a deal. Paige was there. Call her up and ask. She’s not supposed to talk about it, but she’ll confirm it.”

    “Oh, don’t worry, I will make that call. As soon as