Honest Cravings by Erin Lark Read Free Book Online Page A

when she was left inside her weaker form. Even so, she’d be stuck here another month, so it was best if she got used to it.
    Rousing herself from behind the charred supports of her home, Tara inhaled the scents of alcohol, raw sewage, car exhaust fumes and a long winter’s night. She coughed around the unappetising fragrance, wondering if it was too late to go back—to fall into darkness for another month.
    Her lack of a home wasn’t what troubled her, and clothes could easily be replaced—but none had ever seemed to fit her as well as her furred, xaran skin. Damn this plane and its foolish human creatures. She spat into the snow at her feet. Although her xaran spirit remained, her appearance cloned those she so readily mocked. She was on their plane now, stuck in her human form with all its attached weaknesses.
    Such was the xaran curse—one month of a human’s frail life to every month served under the Divine. Supposedly, it was to retain some form of balance between the shadowed plane and the one connected to everyone else on Earth. It didn’t help that, each time she shifted, she returned a month later than when she left, which usually meant different circumstances. A lot can change in a month.
    Tara growled under her breath and bit her lower lip as she inspected her scant articles of clothing—not nearly enough to keep her warm during the last days of winter. She’d have to get indoors and hope no one took notice of her short blouse, knee-length skirt and fierce, feline-like eyes. Just keep your head down and mind your own, she chided herself. Making eye contact with another human usually translated as a formal invitation for conversation and company. She wasn’t interested in either one.
    Rolling her shoulders back, Tara straightened her blue blouse and buttoned up the front. Her nipples hardened from the cold, causing the thin fabric to tighten around them. She wouldn’t need to make eye contact at all, not when it came to her lacking a bra and having such a pale complexion.
    Tara pulled her raven-black hair from under the back of her shirt, brushing the few flakes of snow from it. The corners of her mouth curled as she imagined her hair looking much like her xaran skin, black as night speckled with dark brown and white flecks. She purred at the memory of the warmth of her xaran skin and everything it entailed. Put those thoughts out of your mind. Get somewhere warm if you hope to return to that plane again.
    Stepping out of her crumpled home, Tara turned left, picking up her pace as she headed for the local bar. Even if she didn’t want the company, the bar was a lot better than standing out in the cold. And that was all this was about—survival.
    Tara pressed through the doors to the bar, delighting in the warm air as it blew against her face. Goose bumps emerged all over her body, reacting to the changing temperature and the man staring at her from the far end of the room. Tara averted her eyes and made for the bar, gingerly perching on one of the stools when she got there.
    She raised her eyes to the barkeep, inspecting him from under her long eyelashes.
    “Tara.” The barkeep beamed, leaning over the bar to greet her. “Haven’t seen you for a time.”
    “Evening, brother,” Tara said smoothly.
    “Is the night serving you well?”
    Tara eyed her blouse, then looked back at him. “You tell me.”
    “Ah, I see what you mean.” His eyes grew distant. “I assume you visited your home before you came here.”
    “What’s left of it, yes. What happened?”
    “Electrical fire.” He cleared his throat. “We have some spare clothes for you in the back, should you need to change into something warm.”
    “Thank you, Illistar, but I’ll manage for now,” Tara purred, smiling at the other xaran. “I didn’t see you at the Awakening earlier this evening. Everything all right?”
    The barkeep’s eyes widened and he leaned in closer. “The Divine, is she not pleased?”
    “She didn’t say. I