On the Verge (A Charmed Life Book 1) by Joseph Bonis Read Free Book Online Page A

sandwich to her far hand, and felt the light pressure as Nameless's other front paw came up on her thigh, following the slight movement of the sandwich.  With her newly freed closer hand, Tracy lightly played fingers over soft feline ears and the sleek fur at the back of the cat's neck.  “I dunno what to do, now.”
    The small gray cat leaped from Tracy's lap and bounded to the front door, his lean form lengthening and flowing like dark water.  Even as he did so, Tracy felt that great urge to go walking, to let her frustration ease itself out of her through activity.  The pull of the outside.  She pulled on her puffy jacket and stepped out, surprised that Nameless followed after her.  She pulled her hat from her pocket as she walked down the hall to the entryway, snugged it over her ears against the cold that was sure to be out there.
    Sure enough, the wind bit into her as she stepped outside, tugging her mittens on.  Her heavy denim skirt pulled against her legs, the denim not all that good at keeping the chill out, but better than the light skirts she had worn on Tuesday.  She turned away from the wind and just walked, following that random little urge deep inside her that pulled her around one corner, then the next, walking past shop front after shop front until the shops gave way to homes, then homes gave way to shops once more, her restless legs carrying her quite far and quite quickly.
    Nameless leaped from shadow to shadow, then chased down some of the very few fallen leaves that had escaped out from under the snow, the cold wind sending them skittering across the sidewalk.  Tracy smiled as strands of her hair blew around her face.  She uselessly brushed them away, trying to tuck them under her cap, but the wind just whipped them away from her again.  Each step helped her forget her frustrations and just relax in the clear, crisp night, her spirit lightened by watching the innocent play of the adorable cat.
    Every so often, a figure approached from the other direction.  It was always something of a disappointment.  It wasn't fear - though Tracy always got a little cautious about strangers in the night - but more it was a violation of privacy.  On the nights like this, she could find her way to back roads and suburbs where she wouldn't see another person for block after block.  She knew it was irrational, but strangers on her walk felt like intruders upon her private night, trespassers upon her own personal path.
    She had gone two thirds of the way through a long, rough, haphazard circle and had turned back towards her apartment building when she felt a tingling up the back of her neck.  She glanced back over her shoulder and saw someone following along behind her.  Nervously, she picked up her speed, knowing that up ahead was another section of shops that would have more people around.
    Tracy always walked quickly during her walks, even when she was feeling lazy.  It wasn't a conscious choice - she simply had always done so, ever since she was a little girl walking with her parents.  By this time, she had been walking rapidly for something approaching an hour, and when she sped up her pace, she felt her legs protesting slightly.  She walked more during the summer than the winter, so it had been a while since she'd used those muscles on a regular basis.
    She reached the shops rather soon, only two blocks on.  She turned to walk along the shops, slowing down again now that there were people in view.  Pretending to look at a store window, she instead glanced back at the man who had taken the same turn and was still behind her.  His face was shadowed, but it seemed Native American, and familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  She glanced up to see what shops were upcoming, and turned into a convenience store, quickly stepping up to one of the shelves and staring sightlessly past whatever was on the shelf as she glanced out the corner of her eye at the front window.
    The man walked quickly