Son of Eden, a Paranormal Romance by Brianna Merrill Read Free Book Online Page A

to sleep last night because the attack would give her nightmares. Instead her dream was of Alexander’s bright green eyes and soft warm hands.
    She felt refreshed from a long night’s sleep, but was now in a frenzy attempting to get ready. She applied some makeup to mask the now blue and purple bruise on her forehead. The bump was still about the same size. She knew the cover-up would not hide the injury but hoped it would make it seem like less of a battle wound. Emily rarely wore makeup. She only put it on when she got dressed up for charity events. Her father was bound to notice that she had it on which might end up drawing more attention to her goose egg, but she was willing to take the risk.
    Emily didn’t have any time to rethink her story, as she had hoped. While she dressed she rehearsed in her mind what she had come up with the night before. Her father was already out there. His footsteps were loud, and she could hear him shuffling around in the kitchen. Emily took a deep breath, bracing herself as she made her way out of her room.
    Her father had his eyes centered on the television when she entered the kitchen. Emily took the opportunity to make a sharp left and open the fridge. She pretended to hunt for the milk, knowing very well that it was on the counter right next to him.
    “I’ve already got the milk out, sweetie, the cereal is over here.”
    Emily slowly shut the fridge door. “Thanks,” she mumbled as she kept her back to him, moving slightly to the right. She eyed the cabinet for a juice glass.
    “It’s not like you to run late. I was about to come wake you up when I heard you moving around in there. I thought I’d help you out by having breakfast ready.”
    Her father also had the apple juice out and on the counter. She had stalled as long as possible. Resigned to the inevitable, she sat down at the island where her father was eating. He looked over at her when he heard the chair scratch against the wood floor.
    “Holy cow, Emily! What on earth happened to your head?”
    “ That didn’t take long . Well here it goes, I hope he buys it.”
    “I tripped yesterday at school and fell into one of the brick walls outside.” She poured the milk onto her cereal, acting as though the incident was no big deal. “It looks worse than it feels, really.”
    “So you let your forehead break your fall?” Her father was concerned. It was hard to tell if he bought the bogus story.
    “I was carrying all my books and I didn’t have time to react. My hands were full and, yeah I guess my forehead broke my fall.”
    “Ouch. Are you sure you’re okay? Did you have the school nurse check it out?”
    “It’s just a bump, no big deal. It’s not like I had a concussion or anything.”
    “You sure about that? You must have gone to bed pretty early last night. I got home at a quarter to eight and peeked in your room. You were out cold.” He still sounded worried but it was obvious she had him convinced.
    “I’d been tired all day. It wasn’t because of the bump on my head. Really Dad, I’m fine.” Emily emphasized the last word.
    “Okay, if you say so. But if your head is that bad, how is that wall at school? Do I need to send money for the repairs?” Emily’s father was joking, that was a good sign.
    “You’re such a comedian. I think the wall won so there will be no need to pay for damages.” She gave an annoyed smirk.
    Her father chuckled and went back to eating, as Emily did the same. She ate quickly not waiting for her father to finish. She would be late if she didn’t leave now.
    “I have to go or I’ll miss first period.” Emily grabbed her book bag, threw it over one shoulder and leaned over to give him a kiss.
    “Hurry, but do me a favor and watch out for those walls.”
    “I will.” Emily was relieved that she had gotten away with her lie.
    “At least he’s joking about it, he certainly wouldn’t be if I had told him the truth.”
    School turned out to be just as bad as she had