Read Online Dead Push (Kiera Hudson Series Two#7) by Tim O'Rourke - Free Book Online Page A

been tricked – conned, they felt despair and they started to fall apart beneath their robes – it was like they were being unravelled. So they decided to punish Kiera. They wanted to cause her so much pain they hoped it would help to heal them. So they pushed her into this world where she would learn about her father, her mother, her brother, and what she really was. They would make sure she discovered what a liar and a cheat the man she loved was,” Lilly said, casting an eye at Potter sitting next to her on the bench.
    Potter looked down at the ground and Lilly continued.
    “They wanted Kiera to learn that Murphy had kept secrets from her, they wanted her to see her father die all over again.” And this time Lilly looked at me. “They sent Kayla and Isidor back because the Elders knew how much they were like a brother and a sister and they wanted Kiera to see them die all over again. They wanted to push Kiera into a world of pain so they could feed off her, like rats gnawing at a corpse.”
    “So that was just a bunch of bullshit about us being angels sent back to help Kiera?” Potter asked, crushing out another cigarette and lighting another almost at once.
    “Yes,” Lilly said with a nod of her head. “They needed you all to believe in this new world. They wanted you to think you had a purpose other than to cause Kiera pain – because it wasn’t just about Kiera’s anguish – it was about all of your pain, too.”
    “So my name isn’t really Gabriel?” Potter asked, his eyes wide and hopeful. “Because I can tell you, being called that has been pretty fucking painful. Murphy hasn’t stopped taking the piss.”
    “Being sent back has been more than just about a name,” Lilly said, sounding exasperated with Potter. I knew how she felt. “They wanted you to not only feel pain yourself – but also cause pain for Kiera.”
    “I’d never hurt Kiera,” Potter growled as if he were being accused.
    “How’s Sophie Harrison?” Lilly shot back.
    “I didn’t go looking for her to hurt Kiera…” Potter spluttered, coughing up a lungful of smoke.
    “Going in search of your past lover hurt Kiera though, didn’t it?” Lilly said. “Not only did it hurt Kiera, it caused you and Sophie pain. How much hurt was Sophie caused by remembering you and then knowing that she couldn’t have you?”
    “That’s pretty goddamn spiteful,” I said, enjoying seeing Potter squirm.
    “You hurt her, too,” Lilly said, snapping her head around to look at me. “You went to her house in your search for Kiera. You murdered Marty, her boyfriend in this world.”
    Now it was my turn to drop my head.
    “You twisted sonofabitch…” Potter started.
    “That’s before any of this,” I howled, raising my head to look at the both of them. “I did that when I hated Kiera – when I wanted her dead for deceiving me in The Hollows. That’s before I spent time with Kiera at her father’s house…”
    “Where you made her watch you kill him…” Potter cut in.
    “Enough already!” Lilly barked, raising her hands like a referee separating two caged fighters. “You’ve both screwed up –we all have. But sitting here and pointing the finger of blame isn’t going to stop the Elders. And it certainly isn’t going to help Kiera. Now grow up – the pair of you.”
    We sat in silence. I breathed deeply as I tried to control my rage. I was pretty much angry the whole time, but Potter really knew how to push my buttons. I sat and watched the dead rush for their trains or join the line for the ticket booth. Just as I felt the seething rage ease within me, Potter opened his mouth again.
    “So if you’re right and the Elders are feeding off all of our pain, especially Kiera’s, don’t you think someone should go and tell her I’m not really dead? I mean, I’m not bigging myself up, but she looked pretty fucking distraught when she thought she saw me die back in Wasp Water.”
    “No,” Lilly said. “For now Kiera has