In Memories We Fear by Barb Hendee Read Free Book Online Page B

the compulsion.
    Panic hit him.
    She drew down hard once more, swallowed, and disengaged her teeth, staring at him. Her eyes looked so large in the darkness, but her skin had a hint of color now.
    “Wade . . . ?” she stammered.
    “It’s not how it looks! I just like to check on you.”
    They both knew that was a lie. She’d been inside his head for only a few moments—but it was enough.
    Blood from his wrist dripped onto the lowest stair.
    “Eleisha!” Rose called from above. “Are you out here?”
    Eleisha’s eyes widened farther, but she managed to call back calmly. “Yes, I’m here. Coming, Rose.”
    She got up and opened the back door, which led into Wade’s makeshift gym. “Can you bandage your wrist alone?”
    “Yes,” he answered stiffly, wondering how she could say anything so mundane after what they’d just been through together.
    “Then go. I’ll go up and meet Rose.”
    He moved to slip through the door.
    “Wade?”
    He paused.
    “Nothing,” she said.
    He walked inside.

chapter three
    O n the second night of his search, Seamus materialized in an alley near King’s Cross Station in London, making certain he was alone in the darkness. After being away from Rose so long, he wasn’t up to full strength anymore, but he was still strong enough to search, and he’d finally sensed the hint of an undead signature . . . for a black hole in the fabric of life.
    A presence, or perhaps an absence, hit him almost right away, close by, and he blinked out, rematerializing in another alley off Belgrove Street, casting out with his senses again and becoming frustrated with his inability to track down this presence.
    He had come looking for this vampire twice before, and he didn’t want to fail Wade a third time.
    Seamus had spent nearly two hundred years alone with Rose, never letting her see how a part of him longed for true death, how he’d suffered through the empty nights, one after the next, where nothing ever changed. But another part of him could not bear to leave her all alone. She was his blood and kin, and he endured the endless nights for her sake.
    Wade and Eleisha had changed all that, and now he was a part of something much bigger. The underground wouldn’t even exist without him. He was their seeker, their searcher, the one who brought everyone together. They could never have found each other without him.
    He’d also not realized how hungry he’d been for friendship, and Wade had proven himself a true friend. Eleisha had won Seamus’ affections as well, for she was always gentle with Rose.
    At first, Seamus had hated Philip, but his feelings were more conflicted now. Since returning from Denver, while Philip had not exactly been kind to Rose, he had not been unkind either, and he’d succeeded in helping hone her telepathy in areas where Wade had not. Yet . . . some of Seamus’ instincts still screamed that this new side of Philip was nothing more than a facade to hide the killer he’d always been—always would be. Seamus would never completely trust him.
    Although the alley was dark, he could see numerous people walking down the street just past the entrance. This was a busy part of the city, but quite shabby, with many decaying buildings and a large homeless population.
    He drifted closer to the entrance, reaching out with his senses and feeling himself growing even weaker. This was the cross he bore in order to be useful to his companions. Shortly after being separated from Rose, he began losing his hold on this world, and the greater the distance, the more rapid the process. All ghosts on this plane were tied to a place or a person. Their spirits remained here due to strong—overwhelming—emotion at the time of death. Seamus was no exception. He’d told Wade that being away from Rose simply weakened him. But this was not the complete truth.
    Rose was his only reason for remaining here, and whenever he left her, he could feel himself slipping away and being pulled to the other