Killing Time by Elisa Paige Read Free Book Online Page A

the door we’d sifted through. The curtain of her long hair hid her face, but I recognized her anyway. The torn and bloody tunic she wore, its ragged hem just reaching her coltish knees. The bare feet, bruised and bleeding from her desperate flight through broken glass. Even the way her left arm hung useless at her side as fat red drops splashed from her fingertips onto the alley’s dirty concrete…
    The past hammered into my brain, blinding me to our surroundings. The stench of urine where vagrants had relieved themselves, the distant sounds of traffic, Koda’s bruising grasp, even the triple-time thudding of my own heart, all of it faded under the memory of that last night, the final assignment when part of me had died.
    The night I’d been ordered to slaughter the little girl now waiting outside the highrise’s door.
    Unable to tear my eyes away, I prayed she would not turn toward us, certain that seeing those features again would kill me where I stood, my heart seizing up with unbearable grief and rage and a million emotions I couldn’t even begin to name.
    I don’t know how long I would’ve remained there but for Koda’s arm at my waist, drawing me away. My body shook so hard, only keeping my jaw clenched prevented my teeth from chattering.
    We fled down the alley and spilled out onto the sidewalk, with me staggering along and Koda keeping us moving at a steady rate. After we’d gone a few blocks, he bent his head close to my ear and growled, “How far do you intend for me to carry you?”
    Anger and pride stiffened my spine and I pulled out of his hold, barely remembering in time not to let go of his hand. I glared up into his dark eyes. His hooded expression was one of satisfaction, like he’d gotten the response he’d aimed for and the knowledge that he’d had to snap me out of my trancelike state was humiliating.
    We went another half mile, invisible to four firetrucks and two police cars, all with sirens screaming as they made their ear-splitting way down the street toward the blazing highrise. Koda and I turned left on a broad avenue and hooked a right on a busy side street before I felt it was safe to unshade us, that there were enough humans around for us to blend in. Tugging Koda into the shadows of a doorway rather than become visible out in the open, I let go of his hand and relaxed my hold on our forms, locking my knees so I wouldn’t collapse to the sidewalk. Leaning against the building’s cool gray stone, I gulped air and fought to get my pulse rate back under control.
    Without comment, Koda slipped my backpack off my shoulders and dug around inside. I wanted to fuss at him for messing with my things, but was too preoccupied with trying to breathe. When he turned me back around, he held out a hand, a dozen jelly beans resting on his palm.
    Unaccountably blushing, I scooped the candy into my mouth and stood chewing, watching the humans strolling past a few yards away, returning the occasional polite smile as our presence was noted. It never failed to surprise me how friendly Texans were, just one of the reasons I enjoyed spending time in the state. So friendly, it was a good thing they couldn’t see past my illusion to the soot and filth coating Koda and me or we’d be inundated with help we neither wanted nor needed.
    “Who was the child?” Koda asked, watching me intently as I went rigid.
    I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it, but he pressed me against the wall, his greater bulk hiding me from pedestrians’ view.
    “You said to expect a trap when we left the building, a diversion to break your concentration.” His voice a furious whisper, he lowered his mouth closer to my ear and I shivered at his proximity and the heat of him. “I saw how you reacted, Sephti. That wasn’t just a diversion. That was devastation I saw on your face. Now answer my damn question!”
    “When I spoke of a diversion, I was expecting fae hunters, not…” I licked my lips, startled anew to see