His Garden of Bones (Skye Cree Book 4) by Vickie McKeehan Read Free Book Online Page B

sweet fern, and pepperbush that grew in abundance around the house from dying due to neglect.
    There hadn’t been a whole lot of time to do any of the things she’d planned to do. Which meant no major garden yet. She’d wait for spring for that. Hopefully she’d be able to carve out some time to plant at least a few rows of lettuce. Too many missing kids to look for, too many bad guys to hunt down, to really spend valuable time digging in the dirt. Because of her schedule, she rarely took a day off even on weekends.
    As she studied the view from the back door she realized that needed to change. Looking out over jutting coastline and rocky outcrops, she knew the past twenty-four-hour ordeal had taken its toll—she was almost too tired to think, even too tired to jump in the shower.
    And she missed Josh.
    The house seemed almost too quiet without him. He should be here waiting for her. Because each time she came back home to this personal sanctuary—the pastoral countryside, its rolling slopes and sand dunes, the little shallow pond, and the cathedral of trees at the rear—it never failed to make her feel as though she’d been given a special gift.
    Josh had been the one to point out the area’s unique mix of Native American and European history that had given her such a sense of belonging here, that feeling she’d missed since losing her parents. It was more than that, of course. She’d fallen in love with a man who hadn’t tried to change her, who had accepted her and all the quirks she brought with her.
    As she climbed the stairs to the master bedroom, Kiya and Atka bounding up ahead of her, she looked forward to what she hoped was at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep.
    Once she got undressed she crawled beneath the covers, bone weary. Settling in between the sheets, Skye Cree knew she was one of the lucky ones. Every single day she took stock of what she had. Her father, Travis Nakota, said it was because her ordeal at such a young age caused her to appreciate all the little things in life a lot more.
    She had no doubt that was true.
    Before drifting off completely she thought of Josh and how great it would be when he got back home. She wasn’t sure when it had happened but she’d forgotten how to sleep alone. All she knew now was she didn’t like it very much.
    Oh, she knew she wasn’t completely alone, not with Kiya and Atka snuggling up beside her in bed. Instinct had her running a hand over Josh’s side of the bed. But even with missing that lump of security she’d grown so accustomed to, the lure of sleep had her closing her eyes. Her last thought was of Josh, right before she heard flutes in the distance starting low and then rising. But exhaustion finally took over and blacked out any other thoughts or sounds.
    While Skye slept, Kiya grew uneasy. The wolf raised her head before unfurling to pace back and forth at the foot of the bed. Kiya’s prowling roused Atka. The malamute got up to investigate and roam the room with the wolf.
    Vigilant, both animals stood at the window united in one, like-minded goal —to protect their master.
     

     
    Across the country , it was almost eleven o’clock inside the main convention center in midtown Manhattan. Ander All Games held center court with its debut of the brand-new game, Princess Kilda , featuring a red-headed warrior goddess constantly put in perilous situations but able to fight her way out of whatever danger came her way.
    A throng of gamers had squeezed around the display to get a better look at the battle raging between Josh and Todd Graham. The images on the eighty-inch, flat-screen TV illustrated all Princess Kilda ’s clever features—plenty of chases that required good reflexes, fight scenes that took teamwork between online partners, bad guys to fight to the death, and brilliant 3D graphics that incorporated magic lasers.
    The feedback so far had been positive. Already the buzz on the Internet had exceeded their expectations along