The Uninvited (The Julianna Rae Chronicles Book 1) by Aral Bereux Read Free Book Online Page A

know. He always remained hidden to everyone, even in a brawl.
    ‘No, it doesn’t give him the right.’ Caden rested his folded arms across the tabletop and leaned in. ‘But you’re a Rebel and Militia like to arrest Rebels, remember? Besides, you had it covered. I saw the knife,’ he beckoned with his fingers. ‘Can I see?’
    Otis shouldered through the tight crowds with a bottle in his hand. Caden nodded, floating it in midair to their table, and Otis grateful, went back to his bar. Without the invocations of a camp, revealing himself as a powerful watcher was effortless.
    She raised the beer silently to him in thanks once it reached her fingers. The crowds were attentive again. Their alpha male impressed them with his achievements, and it wasn’t the parlor tricks they whispered about.
    ‘Learn something new about you guys every day. Herd mentality, it’s impressive to watch.’ She handed him the knife. ‘I didn’t know you watchers were like that.’
    His cigarette rested casually between his lips. He scowled at her comment as he opened the knife fully from its handle. He twirled it lightly in his hand, admiring its form.
    ‘The infamous knife. Many a story around a campfire about this baby.’
    ‘It’s kept me safe,’ she shrugged, and looked into the crowds.
    The music dulled for the private dances. The low volume evoked the emotions of the lonely and the damned, and she wanted to join them. 
    Caden ran a finger across the new mark and he raised her eyes with his stare. ‘What happened?’
    She swallowed the amber liquid in a quick gulp while she stole a glance at the private dancers curiously watching them. The screens failed to hide everything. Boss man was the predator she suspected. 
    Caden’s voice lowered. ‘Kill or be killed?’
    She nodded.
    He leaned across the table with the knife held out. Their hands touched with the exchange, and the blood spraying over the alleyway flooded into her mind.
    ‘Don’t feel guilty,’ he said, flicking his eyes to her face and squeezed her hand. 
    ‘I feel guilty for not feeling guilty,’ she corrected. Her beer thumped heavily onto the table’s center and she withdrew her held hand, as the crowds grew inquisitive. They talked and whispered, exchanging stories, sitting close at their small table and now they had touched.
    She snapped at the crowds. ‘He’s my brother!’
    ‘Somewhere to talk privately?’
    Julianna nodded toward the rear of the stage. Her dressing room was quiet, away from prying eyes and flapping ears of the crowd’s intrusions and whispers.
    Caden carried his drink a step behind, pushing through the crowd with his broad build as they whistled for his achievement with their star. His eyes fixated on her ass and when she turned, they quickly averted to the floor.
    They reached the back curtain and she pulled it away, revealing the boss man standing angrily in front of her. His hands held his hips blocking her path.
    ‘Star, hun. What are you doing? You know better.’ He eyeballed Caden up and down. ‘A watcher, of all creatures?’
    She spied the security. ‘He’s a friend, not a creature, and you know I don’t turn tricks. It’s okay. Call off the hounds. He’s good.’
    ‘Nothing good can come from a Master watcher.’
    She dragged Caden from the questioning stares of the backstage performers. Boss man and Caden eyeballed each other in the narrow walkway while Caden slipped past, and he gave boss man a thin expression.
    Incubus, right? Look at her that way again, and I’ll rip your freaking fangs out through your freaking nose!
    Boss man raised his hands in defeat, and his quiet retreat escaped Julianna. Her hand left Caden’s grasp to lead him along the dirty, narrow corridor to a red side door instead.
    The doof-doof-doof muffled after the door latched in its home and with a glance, Caden locked it from where he stood.  He looked over his drink as he gulped another mouthful of beer, while she pulled pants over her