Read Online Bone Walker by Angela Korra'ti - Free Book Online
Authors: Angela Korra'ti
Tags: Urban Fantasy
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with a boyfriend who looked like Christopher.
As she drifted off into sleep, though, a stealthy little voice uncurled itself in the very back of her mind.
Besides, your own date was cancelled too. That was a date you were on, wasnât it? And she didnât even ask how it went.
Then there was laughter, droll and inviting, and ever so slightly bitter.
At least, up until the part where she interrupted youâbut I guess that part wasnât about her.
The voice sounded like a dream, and so with a dreamâs unthinking logic, Jude accepted its presence if not its actual words.
Thatâs not fair and you know it. Dinner with an old girlfriend doesnât automatically equal date. There was nothing for Kendis to know.
Still
, the voice purred,
it would have been nice if sheâd asked.
She had to admit, that was true. That one little nugget of truth remained in Judeâs mind, following her deeper into dreaming. Then, in the next instant, she stood out on one of the many bike trails that crisscrossed Seattle. The sun shone with the warmth of high summer, and there should have been bikers on the trail, or people of all ages out for walks with their children or their dogs, or all by themselves. Yet she was alone. And the temperature was beginning to drop.
I should go in
, she thought.
Itâs going to snow.
But there was that nugget of whispering truth, lodged now behind her breastbone, cold and growing colder. Jude took a step on the trail and then stopped, looking down in bemusement at the snowflakes blowing up and out from her chest. Frost was growing there, heavy and numbing. It sank into her bare skin even as it sent tiny flurries of snow out to gust around her.
And it was oddly pretty.
Donât go in yet
, the voice in the back of her mind crooned. Or had the voice moved now into the frost? Or was it in both places at once?
I want to make a snowman⦠no. A snowwoman. Doesnât that sound like fun? Would you like to help?
Jude smiled and nodded once, slowly, while the swirls of flakes grew stronger around her. Snow gathered at her bare feet, but she held patiently still as the chill crept up her legs to meet the frost expanding at her chest. Unseen hands, somewhere in the blowing snow, brushed approving fingers along her cheeks as the laughter sounded again, a soft little clatter of amusement edged in ice.
Oh, youâre going to be an excellent snowwoman indeed. And just think what fun weâre going to have when we wake up!
Chapter Six
What sleep I managed was spotty at best. My magic, roused by the whatever-it-was that had invaded Judeâs body, coursed through my system like the worldâs biggest shot of caffeine. Even with the comfort of Christopher beside me, I kept dreaming that something was wrong with Judeâthat sheâd stopped breathing, that sheâd had a heart attack, or that Jake had had to call an ambulance for her. Nor could Millicent and Christopher help. Millicent kept insisting she was on the watch for dragons, while Christopher kept adding layers to Wards that seemed far too insubstantial to my dreaming sight.
The Wards wonât work if the thingâs already here!
I tried to yell a warning to both the Warders, but had somehow lost control of my voice. Nor could I leap up off the couch to go to Jude, no matter how fiercely I ordered myself to move.
Through it all, I was strangely, uncomfortably cold.
Dawn comes early in Seattle, even in October. Even under the best of circumstances it would have been too early for my bloodâblood that had, ever since the rising of my magic and the revelation of my fey heritage, found the night a far easier time to be awake. Normally Fort would have demanded his breakfast at six-thirty sharp. This time, as sunlight invaded my living room the next morning, something else beat him to the punch.
âJude!â Her name exploded out of me, and I shot bolt upright on the couch even as I realized that
As she drifted off into sleep, though, a stealthy little voice uncurled itself in the very back of her mind.
Besides, your own date was cancelled too. That was a date you were on, wasnât it? And she didnât even ask how it went.
Then there was laughter, droll and inviting, and ever so slightly bitter.
At least, up until the part where she interrupted youâbut I guess that part wasnât about her.
The voice sounded like a dream, and so with a dreamâs unthinking logic, Jude accepted its presence if not its actual words.
Thatâs not fair and you know it. Dinner with an old girlfriend doesnât automatically equal date. There was nothing for Kendis to know.
Still
, the voice purred,
it would have been nice if sheâd asked.
She had to admit, that was true. That one little nugget of truth remained in Judeâs mind, following her deeper into dreaming. Then, in the next instant, she stood out on one of the many bike trails that crisscrossed Seattle. The sun shone with the warmth of high summer, and there should have been bikers on the trail, or people of all ages out for walks with their children or their dogs, or all by themselves. Yet she was alone. And the temperature was beginning to drop.
I should go in
, she thought.
Itâs going to snow.
But there was that nugget of whispering truth, lodged now behind her breastbone, cold and growing colder. Jude took a step on the trail and then stopped, looking down in bemusement at the snowflakes blowing up and out from her chest. Frost was growing there, heavy and numbing. It sank into her bare skin even as it sent tiny flurries of snow out to gust around her.
And it was oddly pretty.
Donât go in yet
, the voice in the back of her mind crooned. Or had the voice moved now into the frost? Or was it in both places at once?
I want to make a snowman⦠no. A snowwoman. Doesnât that sound like fun? Would you like to help?
Jude smiled and nodded once, slowly, while the swirls of flakes grew stronger around her. Snow gathered at her bare feet, but she held patiently still as the chill crept up her legs to meet the frost expanding at her chest. Unseen hands, somewhere in the blowing snow, brushed approving fingers along her cheeks as the laughter sounded again, a soft little clatter of amusement edged in ice.
Oh, youâre going to be an excellent snowwoman indeed. And just think what fun weâre going to have when we wake up!
Chapter Six
What sleep I managed was spotty at best. My magic, roused by the whatever-it-was that had invaded Judeâs body, coursed through my system like the worldâs biggest shot of caffeine. Even with the comfort of Christopher beside me, I kept dreaming that something was wrong with Judeâthat sheâd stopped breathing, that sheâd had a heart attack, or that Jake had had to call an ambulance for her. Nor could Millicent and Christopher help. Millicent kept insisting she was on the watch for dragons, while Christopher kept adding layers to Wards that seemed far too insubstantial to my dreaming sight.
The Wards wonât work if the thingâs already here!
I tried to yell a warning to both the Warders, but had somehow lost control of my voice. Nor could I leap up off the couch to go to Jude, no matter how fiercely I ordered myself to move.
Through it all, I was strangely, uncomfortably cold.
Dawn comes early in Seattle, even in October. Even under the best of circumstances it would have been too early for my bloodâblood that had, ever since the rising of my magic and the revelation of my fey heritage, found the night a far easier time to be awake. Normally Fort would have demanded his breakfast at six-thirty sharp. This time, as sunlight invaded my living room the next morning, something else beat him to the punch.
âJude!â Her name exploded out of me, and I shot bolt upright on the couch even as I realized that
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