Soulless (The Heartless Series Book 2) by Kelly Martin Read Free Book Online Page A

alive.
    “Hart!” I shake his shoulders, trying my best to wake him up. No… no, this can’t be happening. I need him! I don’t want to need him, but it doesn’t matter. I do. He’s the only person who can understand what the hell is happening to me and the world. He’s the only person who I can talk to and don’t have to worry about what I’ve said. He understands. He’s part of it.
    He’s part of me.
    “Hart!” I slam my fist so hard against his chest that a wave echoes up through my arm and down my body. It’s nothing, I tell myself. Just a side effect of hitting him too hard. Just like when you hit your funny bone.
    Hart groans and sucks in a deep breath. His head lolls to the side, and his eyes roll around like he’s trying to focus on something. Finally, he finds me. “Hey.” He smiles and takes my hand, holding it tightly. “Are you okay? What’s wrong? What happened?”
    He either is a very good liar, or he doesn’t remember. I don’t know which one is worse. If he doesn’t remember, then I’ll have to tell him, and I don’t really want to do that. How can I explain that the best feeling I’d ever felt in my life nearly killed him? And if he’s faking, and I slightly hope he is, how am I supposed to react. Smacking him would be nice but inappropriate. They need guidebooks to deal with these sorts of life situations. Maybe I’ll be the one to write it: An Abomination’s Guide to Good Looking Demon Dudes and How Not to Destroy the World.
    It’ll be a best seller.
    “You don’t remember?” Please let him say yes. Please let him say no. Please let this all be a dream and nothing bad is happening and I’m really in my bed asleep or drooling in class or something like that instead of here…
    His brows cinch together, and he shakes his head no.
    Great.
    “Must have been a hell of a thing.” He motions around the room, and I see it. It’s a mess. Papers have flown everywhere. They are now lying on my floor and the bed and everywhere else a paper could land, like New York City on New Year’s Eve. My little lamp has fallen off the table onto the floor, though the light is still shining strong. Hart looks so pale.
    “It was.” I admit, my body trembling. I can’t do this. I can’t. I’m not strong enough, and honestly, I don’t know if I can hold the evil in me away. I can’t be here, not to hurt anyone. I can’t take that risk, but I don’t know what to do about it.
    I don’t know if I can leave.
    If I can do what I should probably do and—
    The thought I’ve had so many times today hurts my stomach, and I need to just make it stop.
    As if reading my mind, something he said his demon powers don’t let him do anymore, Hart squeezes my hand firmly and runs his fingers over my knuckles. It’s nice, comforting, scary as hell, but nice. “Whatever it is, we can fix it. I can see it in your eyes, Gracen. You are wanting to do something bad and I have to say, that’ll make things even worse.”
    “How can things get any worse?” I scoff, but don’t try to move my hands away from his. Not two minutes ago, I tried to kill him. I wanted to kill him. I hated him that much. Now I’m holding on with everything I have. It’s like I’m two people. Gracen and this soulless thing. I’m not sure I want to be either one, but if I had my druthers…
    “Things can always get worse.” His voice is deep and gritty. His eyes are locked with mine. The redness of his neck is fading and it seems, from the outside, that I haven’t done any permanent damage.
    I should tell him what I did, what I almost did, what I wanted to do to him. It would be the nice responsible thing to do. I can’t, though. I just can’t.
    “Do you know what’s going on? With me? With the world?” If I have my choice, I’ll ignore everything that’s going on. I’m good at that, but seeing as I’m a huge part of it, I figure I should suck it up, be a big abomination, and know.
    “No,” he says much too