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

Her doughy flesh bulged through a large hole at her thigh. One patent-leather heel clattered to the cement. The bouncer took lumbering steps toward the curb, and a faint grunt sounded as one of the woman’s arms connected with his temple.
    The bouncer stopped. He dropped the woman on her feet, and snatched her up again. One large arm banded her limbs down while the other clamped her mouth again, the woman’s movements reduced to little more than a writhing caterpillar in her hole-eaten chrysalis.
    A white limousine loomed into focus beneath the streetlight, like a shark through murky water. The engine purred at a leisurely few miles per hour until it reached the struggling pair. The passenger door opened by unseen hands, and the bouncer tossed the woman inside.
    The woman managed a few curses of indignation before the door snapped shut, and the vehicle puttered away again at the same pace.
    Creepy .
    Shauna readjusted the phone to her ear as Kimmy’s warning cut through. “Anonymity is everything here. Anyone seen dressing for attention outside won’t get past the gate. Keep your goods covered till you’re in. But for God’s sake, get in soon. You’re running out of time.”
    “Right, then it’s all out and exposed. Got it. Anything else, puppet master?”
    Shauna watched the bouncer stoop to retrieve the abandoned shoe and turn toward the building. Eyes forward and mechanical, he didn’t even glance her way. Probably paid not to.
    Shauna’s phone buzzed against her ear.
    “Don’t answer that,” Kimmy barked.
    The urgency in Kimmy’s voice grew distant as Shauna held the phone away. “Don’t need to shout.” She frowned at the unlisted number bannered on the phone’s screen. “And the puppet thing was a joke. You can stop telling me what to do now.”
    “It’s 11:02. Get moving.” A digital beep sounded, and Kimmy was gone.
    Only the incessant vibrations of the incoming call remained.
    She looked to the entrance as the door opened. It arched wider this time and more bodies filed in. The skulking shadows under the canopy diminished and her view of the bouncer’s vantage point became clear. Shauna had a feeling if she stayed on the street much longer, jabbering on her phone, she’d end up the next contender on The Quiet Ride Game.
    She looked to the phone just as it went dark. The unlisted number vanished.
    Just as well.

Chapter Seven
    She slid the phone back into her coat pocket, but after just a few steps, the phone buzzed to life again.
    Shauna pushed out a sigh of frustration. She couldn’t get past the bouncer like this. Couldn’t kill the phone either, it served as her only tether to the outside world. But with it dancing away in her pocket…she retrieved the phone once more and jabbed at the call with her index finger. “Go away. I’m busy.”
    “Where are you?”
    Her lungs seized. The odds told her it would be Richard. What were the chances she’d hear the potent depth of Adrian Sands instead?
    Pretty darn good, apparently. Looked like Shauna won the lottery.
    “Are you in trouble?” he demanded.
    She could hear the manual shift of his car as Adrian accelerated. Probably racing off to another chemistry convention.
    “Trouble? Why Adrian, you sound concerned. You really must have the wrong number.”
    Wow. That saucy-bitch sauce has quite a kick.
    “How did you get my number anyway?” Who was stalking whom here?
    Shauna caught her breath the moment she recognized its hollow sound playing back through the phone.
    Why wasn’t he talking? Could he be evaluating her again? Shauna could picture that unnerving glare of his. The tiny creases that played near his eyes as he performed his microscopic calibration.
    His tone remained even. Low, but even. “Your voice is slurred.”
    “Uh-huh.”
    “Clearly you’re outside.”
    Yep, evaluating. She offered a congratulatory nod. “Excellent work, Sherlock.”
    “So, where are you?”
    Perfect opportunity to add a little “dummy” to the