Read Online A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford - Free Book Online

never heard of. He looked normal enough. Maybe last night’s costumes were just that. Costumes.
    “Breakfast?” He moved his arm in past the door, revealing a covered silver tray. The smell of sausage and syrup drifted across the room. “Yeah?” He waggled the tray a bit, smiling.
    “I’m not hungry.” The dead don’t eat, anyway, she thought. Fresh tears filled her eyes. She yanked her ponytail holder free, rubbing her face before she rebound the tangled mess of her hair.
    Her stomach betrayed her, belting out a low protest.
    “Not hungry, huh?” He crossed the room and plopped down on her bed uninvited. A puff of steam escaped as he lifted the lid. “I’m taking your bacon then.”
    “Where’s Gabriel?”
    “Don’t know any Gabriels.” True to his word, he tossed half a strip into his mouth.
    “But you know Kristen?” she asked, eyeing him.
    He laughed. “I definitely know Kristen. I live here.”
    “So, you’re…dead.” He nodded, nonplussed, and crunched another piece of bacon. “If you’re dead, why are you eating?”
    “Because bacon is awesome? You can eat or not, your call.” He shrugged. “Oh!” he said, digging into his back pocket. “Mail call.” He threw an oversized manila envelope at her. It spun through the air, one of the points catching her skin as it hit her chest.
    “That fucking hurt, asshole!”
    He stopped chewing. “Jesus, I hope you know better than to talk to Kristen like that.” When he’d finished his mouthful, he added, “I’m Adam.”
    There was a chance, however slight, he was sane. For now, any semblance of a violent streak seemed placated by pillaging her abandoned pancakes.
    “Eden.” She held out her hand.
    He let out a quiet chuckle, cocked a finger at her hand.
    “We shake hands, it’s gonna get ugly.” He traded a smile for her blank stare. “Once you’ve been here awhile, you’ll stop reacting to the other Siders.”
    She flashed back to the ball, the dozen guys in their formal wear, the girls in ball gowns. All of them had been Siders. Dead. “Yesterday you were all wearing gloves.”
    “Look, Kristen went all Dawn of the Dead on you, right?” he asked, gesturing to his face. “She wasn’t rotting in real time. You haven’t been around her, so your Touch dropped her glamour. We don’t spend enough time with the other boroughs to grow immune, and yesterday Madeline’s group came in from Queens. Hence the gloves.”
    I’m in New York? she thought. “Madeline. She’s the one I talked to last night.”
    Adam froze. “You talked to Madeline?”
    Something in the way Adam gaped at her told her she’d pulled off some kind of undead faux pas. “She seemed a lot less crazy than Kristen.”
    Adam dropped the fork slowly to the tray, pushing it away. “Crazy’s not always the worst thing.” He paused long enough for her to wonder if he would go on.
    “So, you look…” She swallowed. “If I touch you, you’ll look like Kristen did?”
    “Not as rotty as she probably did. The more Touch you’re storing, the worse you tend to look, and Kristenis always testing the limits. Probably has a lot to do with how come she’s…” He trailed off, giving the door a quick glance before he twirled his hand around his temple. He lowered his hand. “Do you wanna see what I look like? I mean, I don’t just go revealing my inner self to every girl I meet but…” Adam held out his arm, his fingers relaxing into a loose fist. “Go ahead.”
    She jiggled her knee, her finger flexing closer. “Will it hurt you?”
    “Won’t feel a thing.”
    She kept her eyes on his face as her finger brushed against his wrist. His skin sallowed, the cheeks hollowing out. His brown eyes clouded over, but didn’t burst the way Kristen’s had. Clusters of blackened capillaries bruised a thick ring around his neck. And then it was over. His features shimmered back into place as the glamour took hold again.
    “Not so bad, right?” Adam dropped his hand to his