Read Online Cursed by Chemistry by Kacey Mark - Free Book Online Page A

Inside the trench coat pocket, warm vibrations danced against her hand. It took a moment to register the phone’s sensation. She wasn’t used to putting the thing on silent. But again, Kimmy insisted.
    Shauna kept marching as she pressed the phone to her ear, and used her other hand to shield its offensive glow.
    “Hello?” she whispered.
    Kimmy’s voice projected through the phone. “You there already? ’Cause if you get caught with your phone, they’ll take it.”
    Shauna turned from the crowd and cupped the lower end of the phone, hoping to dampen the sound. “You couldn’t have told me sooner?”
    Shauna could just picture the careless brush of Kimmy’s hand. “It’s no biggie. Once you’re in, I’ll have you on webcam. If you feel a vibe in your pocket, get out. If anyone asks, you’re from the Seattle group. Oh, and one more thing. I think the safe word is still ‘button nose’ so if you get into trouble, work that into the conversation and you’ll be left alone.”
    Shauna’s attention flew to the eaves of the building and the corners of the upper floor window. “Safe word? You’re kidding, right? And you’re watching this whole thing?”
    “Well…Yeah.” Her tone smoothed with haughty assurance. “It’s more fun watching you. As a member of Nightingale’s soaring high club, it’s old hat for me.”
    “ Soaring high club ?”
    “Well,” Kimmy scoffed. “Of course that was years ago.”
    “Gee, glad I could be of service. Since when did I become your cheap entertainment?”
    “Since…always. Now get in there and give me video feed. I need to feed!”
    On any normal day, Shauna would tell her to go fly a kite but at present…hell, why not? Let Kimmy take in the show. She didn’t care. Shauna didn’t have a care in the world. Something about tonight blanketed her in a perfect concoction of blissful indifference. “If you want to feed that bad, maybe you should soar your lazy butt down here yourself? What happened to you anyway? Why is it that I’m here , and you’re there ?”
    A pause of unsettling silence stretched through the phone.
    Apparently, that blissful indifference came with a splash of saucy-bitch and a mouth that couldn’t quit. This is what the world got when a sex-deprived Shauna went on parade.
    “I know you’re stressed—” Kimmy began.
    “Stressed?” Was she supposed to be stressed?
    “Maybe a little nervous,” Kimmy corrected.
    Shauna looked skyward in contemplation. Nope. Not that either. Not anymore. But she could have sworn that only a moment ago…
    Kimmy’s words picked up speed. “There’s nothing to worry about. Promise. You’re going to have fun. What’s the worst that can happen?”
    The worst? The entire building going up in flames—with her in it. Not to mention how many others she’d take down with her. Why didn’t that bother her all of the sudden? Tonight, it felt more like a great chance to roast marshmallows. Or s’mores. Shauna slid her tongue over the roof of her mouth to savor the tinge of chocolate that remained. She twisted to her pocket in search of another candy.
    A scamper of heels over wood erupted at the building’s entrance. A disconcerted mumble of irritation came as the ripple of bodies shifted in all directions.
    One woman’s voice carried over the rest. “If you think, after I come all this way—” Her words lost their clarity, smothered to muffled grunts of outrage as a large man shoved through the commotion. He hoisted the woman against his chest with one hand clamped tight over her mouth.
    The buxom woman kicked and reared. Her occluded cries became longer and more urgent the closer they came to the street. The bouncer bobbed his head to the left once, then again, to avoid her flailing arms.
    The glittery, head-to-toe spandex the woman wore looked ready to explode—what was left of it anyway. The strategic holes cut from the fabric stretched and thinned like melting Swiss as the woman continued her spasms.