Read Online Darker Days by Jus Accardo - Free Book Online

though I’d watched it all go down. The driver jumped from the SUV and started pounding on the Honda’s window. “I’m in a Goddamned rush. Get this piece of shit out of my way.”
    On the sidewalk a few feet from us, a couple began screaming at each other. I watched, horrified, as the woman pushed the guy, and he, in turn, pushed her back. Within moments, they were punching and kicking each other like a schoolyard death match.
    All around us, anger, rage, and violence bled into the air. Stifling and thick.
    Lukas crashed to the ground like a stone. Fists knotted in his hair, he was shaking, breath coming in shallow gasps as chaos exploded all around us. A sheen of sweat now covered his forehead, and every few seconds, he’d gasp, eyes rolling back into his head.
    I dropped to the sidewalk beside him. “Lukas. Lukas, look at me.”
    Nothing.
    I grabbed his shoulders and gave a small shake. There was no response. “Lukas, you have to control it.”
    A man stormed past us and threw a metal garbage pail through the front window of Karson’s Pawn Shoppe. “I won’t pay these prices. It’s a rip off!” Behind me, glass shattered. I closed my eyes as bits and pieces rained across my back and over my head.
    Lukas was unfazed. He continued to stare ahead, looking right through me. I had to do something. Fast. In the distance, an echoing bang split the air. The sound bounced off the buildings around us and made the tiny hairs on the back of my neck stand tall. A gunshot? Another car wreck? Someone was going to get hurt—or worse—killed. I had no idea how far this would spread. Or how fast.
    I shook him again. Nothing. Drastic. It needed to be drastic. I could hit him, but that’d probably piss him off even more. The last thing I needed was to get my ass handed to me by an angry Sin.
    So I did the only other thing I could think of.
    Throwing myself forward, I grabbed the sides of his face and pulled him toward me. At first, nothing happened. I sat there, balanced awkwardly on my knees with my lips pressed against his. It was warm. Soft. Not unpleasant, really—just weird. After a moment, his lips parted and I froze. He sucked in a breath and reached out to cup my face on either side. His fingers curled around chunks of my long hair, and for a second—just a second—I was terrified. Butterflies-in-the-stomach, freefalling into chaos kind of terrified. Not because I thought he was going to hurt me, but because I thought he was going to kiss me back.
    But he didn’t.
    Slowly, he pulled away, mouth hanging open wide enough to remind me of clown face on the fourth hole of the Penance miniature golf course. I never could get the ball into that hole… Bringing his right hand up, he ran a finger along his bottom lip, never taking his eyes from mine. A chill replaced the space he’d vacated. A surprisingly unwelcome one.
    Disappointed. I was actually disappointed.
    Around us, the sounds of arguing began to taper off. Sirens blared in the distance and a fire truck flew past, the breeze from it sending my loose hair flailing in all directions. Things seemed to be cooling down.
    “What were you thinking?” When I didn’t answer, he kept going. “Are you crazy? Why would you do that?”
    Wonder what he’d think if I told him he’d just sort of been my first kiss? Heat rose in my cheeks, and I tamped down a burning feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wouldn’t let him see his indifference bothered me. “It was the only thing I could think of. I needed you to snap out of it.”
    “And you thought that was the best way to do it?”
    I didn’t trust myself to speak, so I simply shrugged.
    He climbed to his feet. “I lost control—I’m sorry.”
    Control? I’d had my face smushed up against his, and he hadn’t taken advantage of it. That was control-a-plenty in my book. Or maybe I’d done something wrong. I wasn’t unkissable, right? I mean, I lacked skill—obviously—but…
    He looked around, taking in the