Read Online Bring Out Your Dead by MacAlister Katie - Free Book Online

that Sebastian spoke the truth.
    “ If she’s your Beloved,”
she said, “and you Joined, then where’s your soul?”
    I looked at him,
remembering the dark, tormented emptiness inside him. You didn’t get your soul back?
    He hesitated a few moments
before answering. It may take some time
before I have it.
    I closed my eyes against
the pain that swamped me at the unspoken acknowledgement. She’s your real Beloved, isn’t she?
    No. She is a Beloved, but not mine. In all
senses of the word but one, you are my Beloved. Can you not feel
how we complete each other? You bring me light, Ysabelle. You stir
feelings in me I never imagined existed. I want to protect you, to
keep you safe. I wish to spend the remainder of my life discovering
all there is to know about you. I have known you less than an hour,
but already you have become vital to me. Only a Beloved could bind
me to her in such a way. You complete me. We are one now, and
nothing Noelle or anyone else says can change that.
    I stood with my arms wrapped around myself,
sorrow stinging behind my eyelids. Sebastian didn’t try to touch
me, just stood watching me, his mind open to mine, willing me to
merge with him to read the truth for myself. I allowed my mind to
fuse with his, rocked by the powerful emotions he held in check. He
didn’t lie—he was thoroughly convinced that we were meant to be
together, that my very presence brought him immeasurable
pleasure.
    How on earth could I resist a man who so
completely believed the sun rose and set on my word?
    How could I betray the one friend who had
stood by my side for so many years?
    “ What you’re saying is
that she’s your Beloved in name, but I’m your Beloved in fact? Is
such a thing possible?”
    “ Yes.” With infinite
gentleness, his thumb brushed away a tiny little tear that had
crept from my eye. Forgive me, Belle. I
would have saved you this pain if I could.
    “ So touching,” Tim said
quietly to another of the revenants. “Just like a chick
flick.”
    “ That it is,” the revenant
named Jack agreed. “Romantic.”
    “ Romantic, my arse. I’m
sitting here starving to death, and all you can do is yammer on
about this drivel? Someone give me a bite to eat!” William’s
remains demanded.
    Damian stood, picked up William’s discarded
leg, and walloped the half-a-revenant over the head with it.
    You don’t believe
me? Sebastian asked.
    Yes, I believe you. I couldn’t disbelieve him—the regret he felt was
so strong I didn’t need to merge with him to feel it.
    “ Noelle?” Her stormy green
eyes turned to me. “I have known you your entire life. Your mother
gave you into my care when you became a Guardian, but I think we’ve
become more than just roommates—you are my friend, and I love you.
I would never hurt you. I know you and Sebastian had a less than
amicable parting, but what I want to know now—what I need to know
is what your feelings are for him. Are you…are you in love with
him?”
    “ Well, it doesn’t matter
now what I feel, does it? You’ve gone and Joined with him. There’s
nothing left for me,” she snapped, the words hurting me almost as
much as the anger in her eyes.
    “ Noelle—”
    “ Zut. Elle est tres pissed,” Sally said in a clearly audible
undertone.
    “ Very,” Tim said,
nodding.
    “ I’m leaving now,” Noelle
said with icy dignity, gathering her bag of tools. She marched to
the door, ruthlessly pulling down the barricade the revenants were
building from bits of the door and part of the couch. “I am bound
by the laws governing the Guardian’s Guild to answer any summons
you may make for help with a demon, but I would advise you to think
twice before you call. I fear I would be quite, quite delayed in
answering.”
    “ Noelle, please, we can
talk about this—”
    She ignored my outstretched hand and marched
out of the house, her back rigid.
    I dropped my hand, pained by her actions but
aware that I had hurt her deeply.
    “ She will understand