Read Online A Snake in the Grass by K. A. Stewart - Free Book Online

snorted at me.
    The sun was slowly sinking toward the ocean,
just visible in the distance, when we pulled to a stop in front of
a storefront, painted a charming coral color. Paulito hopped out,
mumbling about picking something up for his aunt, and vanished
inside, while the rest of us nearly fell out of the bed of the
truck, rubbing feeling back into our lower extremities.
    Estéban inhaled deeply, and let it out in a
contented sigh. “Now it is beginning to smell like home.”
    Some locals were seated out in front of their
shops, and Sveta let her gaze roam over them without hint of
apology. They eyed her back in turn with as much – if less hostile
– curiosity. “We are not yet at your home, yes?”
    The kid shook his head. “No, another half an
hour or so. Maybe less, the way Paulito drives.” He pointed west,
toward the darkness of the mountains. “Up there.” Even with
twilight barely trickling down the sides of the range, we could
already see the twinkling lights of the houses up there, tiny
outposts of homes on the mountainside. “The road will be rougher
though.” He grimaced a little.
    Terrence, who had been blessedly confined to
the cab of the pickup until this point, rolled the window down to
snarl at us. “Any chance of getting a move on? Some of us aren’t as
young as we used to be, and this is hard on my old bones.”
    He thought that was hard? I had half a
mind to make him take my place in the bed of the truck for the last
leg, but somehow I knew that Mira would know, and she’d give me
that disappointed look. I hated that look. “You could get out and
stretch, you know.”
    The old curmudgeon just grumbled and rolled
the window back up.
    I was about to make some smart remark to
Estéban – would have been supremely witty, I’m sure – when a hand
closed around my forearm, and I turned startled eyes on Sveta.
Despite her vice-like grip on my arm, her icy gaze wasn’t on me.
“Ten o’clock.”
    I followed her gaze to the corner of the
building, and found a pair of dark eyes watching us in return.
Half-hidden in the shadows of the alley, the young woman looked
like a local girl, dressed in cut-off jean shorts and a tank top,
showing off a lot of darkly tanned skin. Her black hair hung in
loose waves around a heart-shaped face, and if she was wearing
makeup, it was the kind that was meant to look like she wasn’t. She
glanced at Sveta and I briefly, not seeming to care that she’d been
noticed, and then her eyes settled on Estéban with frank
curiosity.
    I grinned a little, and elbowed the kid.
“Hey. You’ve got an admirer.”
    “Hunh?” Turning, he blushed faintly to find
the very attractive girl staring at him. “Oh. Um… hola .” She
smiled a little at his clumsy greeting, but didn’t answer him, only
tilting her head so that her hair draped artfully across her bare
shoulders. Estéban swallowed hard and seemed to have lost all words
in every language he knew. Me, I settled back to see how long the
two were going to stare at each other without talking, ‘cause this
was damn funny.
    Unfortunately, Paulito chose that moment to
return, and the spell was broken. Settling a few grocery bags into
the back of the truck, he followed his cousin’s entranced gaze to
the alley, and broke into a broad grin himself. “Reina!”
    The mystery girl dragged her gaze away from
the kid, and she gave Paulito a teasing smile as he went to greet
her. Despite my newness with the language, it was very clear that
they knew each other. Very, very well, if you get my
meaning. They murmured between themselves in Spanish for a bit,
while Estéban shuffled his feet and did his best to look anywhere
but. Finally, Paulito remembered his audience, and turned to make
introductions.
    “ Primo , señor and señorita , this is mi novia , my girlfriend,
Reina.”
    We all made noises of hello, though Estéban’s
mumbled “ Encantado ” was lost in the shuffling of his feet.
For her part, the newly named Reina