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

lap. Eden let out an awkward laugh, but shook her head. “A few more days here and nothing will happen when you touch me. Do you wanna see what you look like? Because I can show you.” He pointed to the mirror above the dresser.
    “Will it be bad?”
    “Nah, you can’t have built up much Touch. You’re like, what? One day in? You’ll still be pretty.” A blush burst across his face.
    “Here,” she said quickly, offering him her own arm.
    She felt the shift, a subtle tingle racing across her hairline, down her spine. Adam yanked back.
    “What? What is it?” She twisted to the mirror, caught the fading dull cream of cheekbones under stripped flesh before her skin knitted over again.
    “Holy shit,” he whispered.
    “I’m not supposed to look like that, am I?” She tore her eyes from the mirror. “You said it wouldn’t be like that!”
    “How the hell?” He sounded out each word. “Has Kristen touched you?” She shook her head, her eyes wide. “Eden, you cannot let Kristen see you without your glamour. Do you understand?”
    “Why? Why did I look like that?”
    “No one builds up Touch that fast. No one can store that much.”
    “Adam, please. What’s going on?”
    He slid off the bed, putting distance between them. His tone shifted, coming out strained, formal. “Kristen has requested the pleasure of your company in the foyer once you’ve finished breakfast. There’s a shower across the hall.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “Obviously you’re not new, and I have no idea how you’re storing that much and still functioning, but you are far too potent. She’ll make you a Screamer.”
    “What the fuck is that?”
    “She locks them in their rooms. Doesn’t let them pass Touch. We don’t see them again. But we hear them.”
    “What’s Touch?”
    “If you just needed somewhere to crash for the night, fine, but I’d get out while you can. Kristen’s worse than any rumor you’ve heard.” He opened the door and slipped out without answering her question.
    She stared after him. After a minute her eyes fell to the large envelope waiting beside her, her name splayed across the front.
    She ripped at the sealed flap, swiping the inside. At first she thought it was empty, but then the edge of a photograph slipped under her nail. She pulled it out.
    “Oh,” she whispered. The sudden image of him caught her off guard, tears blurring his face. She blinked hard until he cleared.
    Her eyes were closed in the shot; her head in Az’s lap as he’d leaned down to kiss her forehead. They looked deliriously happy. She ran her fingers reverently over its surface.
    “Az,” she murmured. She hadn’t known Gabe had snapped the picture. Never seen it before now.
    She slid the picture back into the envelope, glancing around the room for a safe place to keep it. There wouldn’t be enough words to tell him how much it meant to her when she saw him again. If she saw him again.

CHAPTER 12
    E den descended the stairs, scoping out the room below, but there was no sign of a trap. No sign of Sebastian or Adam waiting to ambush her. Only Kristen, flopped across an overstuffed armchair. One of her legs swung idly over an armrest, her hand draped across her forehead.
    She wore a different dress, this one a dark blue vintage circa 1950. Nothing as garish as last night’s ball gown. Judging by how Kristen had stocked the closet in Eden’s room, dresses were apparently her thing. Eden hadn’t managed to find much that was passable in the dresser. A black skirt and a few layered tank tops had gotten the job done.
    Kristen sat up at the creaking stairs. “Dear Lord, child. Does it always take you so long to shower?”
    Eden didn’t answer. She’d held her shit together last night and through breakfast, but once she stepped under the faucet head, the water streaming over her, it was over. She’d given in to her grief, clamped a hand over her mouthto muffle her cry, while the spray stripped tears from her eyes