Read Online Claws and Effect by Jessica Sims - Free Book Online Page B

thought you said you weren't like the vampires."
    "We're not," he told me. "I promise. It's very rare that someone's turned. Marie was only turned because she was dying, and Josh didn't care if he got in trouble or not."
    He tried to pull me against him to hug me, but I pulled away. My mind was full of flashing images of teeth and fangs and pain. Poor Marie. How she'd suffered. I swallowed hard. And we were celebrating this like it was something good? I didn't understand.
    "You okay?" Ellis asked softly, dropping his hand.
    "Yeah, just...yeah." I crossed my arms tight over my chest and walked a few paces away from him.
     
    ***
     
    Marie's party turned out to be a picnic and barbecue. The backyard of the house was filled with wooden tables and people milling about them. In the distance, a row of grills were lined up, and one man stood at them with a beer, flipping meat while others played football and a few others hovered around the tables, chatting. I counted heads - there were maybe twenty or more people of all shapes and sizes. All of these people were shifters? They looked so normal.
    Marie was out on the football field, looking healthy and incredibly happy. She gave me a cheerful wave and nearly got tackled thanks to the distraction. She was no longer ghost-pale, her skin a healthy flush and she looked like she'd put on a few pounds. I guessed being a shifter suited her. I still longed to pull her aside and ask her if she was okay. If she had nightmares about teeth like I did.
    Almost as soon as we arrived, Ellis was pulled away to play football, and he gave me a questioning look, as if asking if I'd be all right. I shrugged. I was feeling a little weird about us at the moment. On one hand, the kiss we'd shared had felt...perfect. On the other, his mention of Marie being bitten until she turned freaked me out. I rubbed the bites on my arms and approached a small group of women sitting at one of the wooden tables.
    "Hi there," chirped a blonde with pigtails. She was dressed in a bright pink track suit. "You must be Lily! I'm Ryder." She beamed at me, all dimples and blue eyes. "And I'm sitting over here minding the food because all those kitty cats like to play rough."
    I sat down next to her, smiling. "You're not a shifter?" She already felt safe.
    Ryder waved a pink manicured hand in the air. "God, no. I work for the dating agency but that's it."
    "Dating...agency?"
    She nodded. "Midnight Liaisons. It's where they go when they need a little tail." She gave me an exaggerated wink. "Bad joke, I know. Cue the sad trombone noises."
    I giggled. "It's a good joke, though."
    "I thought so." She picked up a can of Red Bull and offered me one. I declined, and took a soda instead. "Soooo," Ryder said. "You're here with Ellis? You two dating?"
    I choked on my first sip of soda. "What? No. Why do you ask that?"
    She fluttered her eyelashes at me, all coy. "Just, you know. Rumors."
    "What kind of rumors?"
    "Well," she said, hunching down like we were gossiping at the school lunch table. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Basically that he's chasing off everyone that tries to show up and spend time with you. And that he's been bailing out on work to take more shifts with you."
    "Oh," I said, then shook my head. "We're just friends. And Everett had a deadline to meet."
    "Uh huh. What about Austin and Jeremiah?"
    I frowned. "Who are they?"
    "Precisely," she said with a grin. "Those are two more delectable Russells. Mind you, Jeremiah's got a girl and a guy already." Ryder shrugged her shoulders. "But Austin is footloose and fancy free, and Ellis won't let him go near you for all that they're cousins. The only person he trusts is his twin, and it sounds like he doesn't trust him all that much."
    My eyes widened. "Those are some crazy rumors."
    "Aren't they?" Ryder said, chugging her Red Bull. "We could put them to the test, see how much truth there is."
    "How?"
    "Just watch the master," she said in that teasing voice, and got to her feet.