Read Online Dead Ink: A Karma World Romance (Karma Series Book 4) by Donna Augustine - Free Book Online Page A

situation out, the whole Malokin mess and the world going crazy, all that crap, I can help you get settled somewhere.”  
    The fork clanked onto the bowl where she dropped it. “You can?” He’d help her rebuild a life? She’d been worried about how she’d make all the connections she’d need, figuring it was better to take it day-by-day instead of dwelling and becoming overwhelmed.
    “Don’t get too excited. There are some drawbacks. It’s not going to be like when you were human. You’re going to have to move every so often. You can’t plant roots down deep because we don’t age. Stay in a place for more than a decade and people start wondering why you still look so damn good, although the invention of Botox has really helped out. Still, you can only milk that for so long. It’s why we all move as a group, the guys I mean. It’s nice having some kind of a family.” He looked at her and smiled. “There aren’t many of us. It would be nice to have someone else around. You get sick of the same faces after a while.”
    Should she play it safe and say, hey, that’s great, or bring out the elephant? It took her less than a second to decide. “Aren’t you a little worried that I’m a murdering psycho?”
    He shrugged his shoulders as he popped another pretzel in his mouth. “I wasn’t until you said that,” he replied and then started laughing at his own joke.
    “Your buddies seem a bit more worried than you are.” She knew Lars didn’t trust her and she wouldn’t feel safe if she was alone in a room with Fate. Her connection to Malokin seemed to set him off worse than the rest.
    He popped another pretzel in his mouth as if it were the most trivial thing in the world that the other guys thought she might be a super villain. “Don’t worry about those jackasses. They’ll figure it out eventually.” It took her a second to decipher his words past the mouthful of pretzels.
    “I’m not used to anyone thinking I’m the spawn of Satan but there’s probably a learning curve to stuff like that.”
    He laughed, and looked at her like he was just starting to see her. “You’re funny. Were you sarcastic when you were alive?”
    “A bit but I tried to keep it toned down.”
    “Sarcasm is considered the lowest form of humor,” he said in mock admonishment.
    “Only people who suck at it say that. Everyone else laughs,” she said. “So why are you so sure I’m not going to kill you in your sleep tonight or I haven’t secretly poisoned the breadcrumbs?”
    He smiled. “Do you really want to know?”
    She smiled back. “Yes.”
    “Well, we told you about the agency that runs the Universe. There are all sorts of positions in the agency. There’s Murphy’s Law, Mother Earth, Cupid, every possible rumor or superstition you’ve ever heard of as a human, there’s someone doing that job. They’ve got a leprechaun that controls the amount of four-leaf clovers, a Black Cat Lady who sends out cats before something bad happens. There’s Fate who, if you can’t guess, helps steer people in the right direction. It’s all run and controlled by the agency, technically it’s called Unknown Forces of the Universe but that’s too much of a mouthful to say all the time.”
    “Who runs the agency?” she asked.
    “Upper management. They’re very reclusive and not usually seen. I’ve only met one myself and that wasn’t until all this shit started happening.
    “The guys and I all had jobs there before we quit. Now, there’s a difference between quitting and retiring. Retiring is above board, everyone in the agency knows you’re leaving. The higher ups make all the arrangements and you go on to another life and become a normal human afterward.” Cutty made air quotes when he said normal. “Quitting is on the down low, not agency approved. We didn’t know it was possible until Lars made the discovery. The thing none of us knew when we quit was whatever your job was before, you get to keep the