Read Online Dirty Blood by Heather Hildenbrand - Free Book Online Page A

died.”
    “Oh. I didn’t know. I’m sorry. How did they die?”
    He hesitated. “Werewolves.”
    His lips pressed into a hard line and a muscle in his
jaw flexed. There was malice in that one word, and disgust, and I
finally understood his earlier comment. “That’s what you meant by
different sides?”
    “Yes.”
    Finally, I felt like I was getting somewhere with
him. “Does this have anything to do with that cause Jack
mentioned?”
    “Forget about that okay. It’s not for you.”
    “Shouldn’t that be up to me, just like choosing
whichever side I want to be on?”
    He gave me a hard look. “No.”
    I huffed in frustration. The boy was a walking
contradiction. I tried another tactic. “What’s your favorite
color?”
    The corner of his mouth twitched. “Why?”
    “Because you want me to choose a side but you still
haven’t told me enough to make me decide whether I can trust
you.”
    “I’ve told you plenty.”
    I shook my head. “No, Jack and Fee told me plenty.
You’ve told me nothing.” I saw he was about to argue and continued.
“Giving me my memories back doesn’t count. They were already
mine.”
    “Okay, but how does knowing my favorite color help
you trust me?”
    “You can tell a lot by a person’s favorite color,” I
insisted. “For instance, mine is blue because I love the ocean and
the sky.”
    “Okay, then, green.” He raised a brow. “What do you
get from that?”
    “Well, could be for money, but I don’t think so,” I
mused. “The forest, I think.”
    “Could be for envy, too, you know,” he said, his
voice taking on a teasing quality that surprised and confused me.
Just moments ago he’d been clipped and silent, to the point of
rude.
    “You seem in a better mood,” I said, carefully.
    Wes made the turn into my neighborhood and paused at
the stop sign before answering. “Tara, it’s impossible to be in a
bad mood around you.”
    I looked back at him in surprise, unsure of what to
say to that. It was easily the nicest thing he’d said to me, since
we’d met. “Thanks?” His lips twitched, making me wish I knew the
meaning behind his cryptic compliment. “Are you always so hard to
read?” I asked, finally.
    “Are you always this difficult about taking
compliments?”
    “I’m still trying to figure out if it was one.”
    “It was.”
    Something about the way he said those two words made
my face and arms heat. The air in the car thickened into something
almost tangible and I remembered what he’d said to Jack, about the
magnet. It was definitely happening now, a pull or polarity between
us. It was unnerving and enjoyable all at the same time, and I
shifted in my seat, trying to get comfortable in my own skin. I
wondered if he felt it too, but when I glanced over, his brows were
arched down, in either deep thought or confusion.
    In much less time than it would’ve taken a normal
person – or normal car - we pulled up in front of my house, and he
cut the engine. I didn’t wait for him to come around and open my
door. I needed a minute to clear my head, but the blast of cold air
that greeted me when I stepped out was sadly, not enough, though at
least I could breathe easier out here in the chilly open air of my
front yard. I was pretty sure – unless Werewolf customs were
totally different – that Wes had just been flirting with me. The
problem was that I’d felt myself react to it. My pulse was racing
and there was a weird fluttering in my stomach. And I felt like one
look at my face and he’d know all those things. So I made sure to
stay ahead of him as he followed me to the door. I fumbled with the
key, ridiculously nervous all of a sudden. Wes waited patiently
without comment as I finally slid the lock aside and wrestled the
key out again. When I couldn’t avoid it any longer I turned to
him.
    “I don’t really know what to say for everything
you’ve done, but thanks,” I told him.
    “Wow, sounds like a brush off.”
    “No!” My reply came out