Read Online Breath by Jackie Morse Kessler - Free Book Online Page B

but the thought of accidentally seeing his mother’s naked boob was enough to give him the heebie-jeebies. Bad enough that his parents obviously had had sex. Still not looking at her, he said, “I’m going with Ted to Izzy’s house to watch the game.”
    “You’ll be home before six, right?”
    He sighed. “I promise for the zillionth time I’ll be home to babysit.”
    “My son the saint,” she said happily.
    Not so saintly; he was hoping to build up enough good karma that his parents would reward him with a car. Xander was a believer in the power of positive thinking. Besides, he was going to ask Riley to come by tonight. He didn’t mention that part to his mom, who had definite ideas on when it was appropriate to leave two horny teenagers alone—also known as “never.”
    Next he ducked into the kitchen, where his dad was playing yet another round of online poker. “Off to Izzy’s for the game,” Xander announced.
    His dad didn’t look away from the screen. “You guys could watch here.”
    “Izzy’s got surround sound.” And beer, but Xander didn’t mention that part.
    “Damn it, should’ve held! Would’ve had four of a kind!” His dad let out a frustrated snort. “Guess no one sees something like that coming.”
    (the Pale Rider is coming)
    For no reason he could name, Xander thought of his fragmented dream, the one that had led him to sketch four horses breaking the world. Suddenly uneasy, he forced a grin onto his face. Dreams were stupid and meant to be forgotten.
    “Heading out. And yes,” he said before his dad could mention it, “I’ll be back by six.”
    His dad grunted, “Good man.” Then he cursed at the virtual players at the online poker table.
    Xander said, “At least it’s not for real money. Which is good, because I’m guessing we’d be bankrupt by this point.”
    “I swear,” his father muttered, “I don’t know why I bother. It always ends the same way, with me wanting to win even more.”
    “So stop playing.”
    His dad glanced at him, an odd twinkle in his eye. “But playing’s so much fun. Go, enjoy the game. Home by six.”
    Xander agreed, collected Ted, and left the apartment. An elevator ride later, they were outside the building and walking to Ted’s car, which was parked across the street. It was a gorgeous day, with the sky so blue that the white of the clouds looked almost sharp. A cawing sound heralded a slice of black that suddenly cut through the blue—a flock of birds, taking flight.
    No, not just birds, but crows. A murder of crows, marring the summer sky.
    On impulse, Xander took out his cell phone and snapped a picture of the crows. Their cries hung in the air, echoing after the flock passed on to another patch of sky.
    Soon,
the birds warned.
Soon, soon.
    “Come on,” Ted said, unlocking his door. “Places to be, beer to drink.”
    “Yeah, okay,” Xander replied absently, staring at the place where the crows had been. The last of the caws faded, leaving only an impression of doom.
    He shook his head and finally got into the passenger seat of Ted’s secondhand beast of an automobile, which Xander thought of as the Death Car. The shocks were nonexistent; the brakes were questionable; the seat belts were an afterthought. How the thing always passed inspection was anyone’s guess. Ted had gotten it for his seventeenth birthday last year, and he swore he’d drive it until it fell apart. Which, based on the odometer, could be any second now.
    Once Xander shut the door, Ted gunned it out of the parking spot. The Death Car lurched down the street, belching exhaust. Ten seconds later, Xander was clinging to the grip over his door.
    “I think you missed a pothole back there,” he said through gritted teeth.
    Ted grinned at him. “Nope. Got ’em all. I’m talented like that.”
    Maybe it was because he was behind the wheel of his beloved evil car, but Ted looked worlds better than he had at Xander’s house: the paleness of his skin softened