Tyger Tyger by Kersten Hamilton Read Free Book Online Page A

setup.
    "What do these
cat-sídhe
do?" Teagan asked. "Other than walk around like zombies?"
    "I've seen one squeeze the life out of a baby bird," Finn said. "Just to hear it squeak. I hate the little bastards."
    Mr. Wylltson's Welsh baritone rang out from the laundry chute. Finn jumped and whirled to look at the hole in the wall.
    "It's Dad." Teagan tried not to laugh. "He's singing the monsters away. You know, out from under the bed, out of the closet. That's the only way Aiden will go to sleep."
    "What kind of monsters?" Finn asked.
    "Imaginary ones," Teagan assured him. "Aiden has a wild imagination. He's scared of all sorts of things. Like Elvis impersonators, and the tooth fairy. He's terrified of the tooth fairy."
    "Poor kid." Finn leaned back against the counter, studying her. "You have a heart for the injured, don't you? That's why you offered to help with the dishes."
    Perceptive,
as Dr. Max would say. Even if he did think zombie cats were stalking him.
    "Do you have a boyfriend?"
    Teagan's face went warm again. "I'm working on getting a scholarship to Cornell's vet-med school."
    "So?"
    "So it's the best school in the nation. Getting in is tougher than getting into med school. I have to focus. I have a plan, and a boyfriend is not a part of it."
    Finn tipped his head and nodded.
    "Mamieo told me once that Aunt Aileen was the prettiest child she'd ever seen. But she hasn't seen you, has she? Not since you were a baby. I'm glad you're not my blood cousin, Teagan Wylltson."
    "Why?" Teagan felt foolish even as she asked it. She'd seen that look in a guy's eyes before. It meant they were never going to be friends, because he wanted...
more.
A lot more. When a guy looked at her that way, it was time to walk away.
    But she couldn't walk away this time. This one was going to be living in her house. And if it felt like fireworks standing next to him, then touching him would be—
    "Tea"—he leaned toward her, and Teagan took a step back—"I'm going to change that plan of yours."
    Her face flashed from warm to very hot, and her knees felt ... wobbly. And Finn could tell, because he grinned.
    She stomped across the kitchen and jerked open the door to the maid's stairs. "Here. If you go up this way, Mrs. Santini won't see you. She's dying to get the gossip—that's why she's here. Your room is right at the top."
    "Sending me to my room, eh?" Finn laughed. "Mamieo would like you, girl. Good night, then." He grabbed his satchel and disappeared up the stairs.

Four

    I'M
going to change that plan of yours'?
He
said
that?"
    "Yeah." Teagan shifted her cell phone to her other ear and leaned her head against the bus window. "Maybe you were right, Abby." She was glad she had to work early on Saturdays. She'd left the house before Finn was awake.
    "I'm going to have a talk with him," Abby said.
    "A talk? I thought you were bringing holy water."
    "First I'll talk. Then I'll hit him with the holy water. Drogo was trying to tell me something, Tea, I swear. And Finn shows up, like, the next day."
    The bus was passing St. Drogo's at that moment. What were the odds? Teagan half expected Drogo to drop his hoe and wave.
    She'd woken up with the kind of headache that makes things jiggle and blur at the edges of your vision, as if your brain were just too tired to process the information sent along by your eyes. That's what she got for staying up half the night thinking about Finn. Trying to get him out of her head.
    "Tea?" Abby said. "Are you there? I said Saint Drogo was trying to tell me something."
    "Maybe he wanted to tell you not to run away from Father Gordon."
    "Yeah, yeah," Abby said. "Saints don't go to any trouble unless it's
important.
Like, your best friend's falling for some—" Abby's voice was drowned out by a furious banging.
    "What's that noise?" Teagan asked.
    "Sheila's banging on the bathroom door. WHAT?"
    Teagan jerked the phone away from her ear. Abby's voice was loud enough that people three seats away