Read Online Gods of the Dead (Rising Book 1) by Tracey Ward - Free Book Online Page A

Plumes of smoke rose in the distance where parts of town were burning. Gunshots rang out at all hours and woke you up in a cold sweat.
    But today was quiet, and while I want to enjoy it because it’s mellowed Sienna out, I’m worried. It can’t mean anything good. It doesn’t mean it’s over. I think what it really means is that the old world is dead and the new has arrived, and I don’t know how to live in it yet. It means I’m going to have to find out, and soon.
    My phone beeps in my pocket but I ignore it. I’ve been ignoring it all day. Sienna is desperate for her phone to ring and I can’t wait for mine to shut up.
    “Is it your dad?” she asks.
    “Nah. He doesn’t have my number. It’s my boss.”
    She snorts a laugh. “You don’t have a boss anymore, baby. You’re free.”
    “Trapped behind a lot of fence for a free man.”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “No, I don’t,” I reply coldly. “And neither do you.”
    I leave her in the backyard alone under the stars and head for the kitchen.
    I don’t like feeling this way, feeling trapped. Caged. And it’s not the walls of the house or the fence around it, or even the arms wrapped loosely around my body every night that makes me feel this way. It’s the message on my phone.
    It’s the man in the heart of the city that thinks he owns me.
     
    Bar. Now.
     
    Like he’s calling a dog to heel.
    I find bread that’s a little dry but not moldy yet and a jar of peanut butter. I look for jelly but all I find is grape and the second I see it I give up hope.
    Sienna comes into the room as I’m sitting down at the island. She goes to the sink to fill a glass of water for herself, then stands there watching me.
    “What’s wrong?” she asks.
    I pop a bite of sandwich in my mouth. “I gotta go to work.”
    “You’re joking.”
    “I’m not.”
    “Vin, he’s not your boss anymore. He’s not in charge of anything because there’s nothing left out there to be in charge of.”
    “There’s always something. The bar, the block, the city. The whole state of Washington. Marlow’s always wanted to be in charge and on the streets sometimes demanding it is all it takes to have it. If you shout loud enough people start listening.”
    “But do you still want to work for him? ‘Cause you don’t have to. You know that, right? Just because he shouts doesn’t mean you have to listen.”
    I wish that were true, but it’s just not. Not for me. I have a pretty good idea how this world is going to shake out and it’s not going to be in favor of the few. The meek will not inherit the earth and this city will not sit unmanned for long. Men like Marlow want nothing more than the anarchy that’s filling the streets of Seattle and they’re going to start standing up and taking territory. I can either stand with them, against them, or be one of the nameless, faceless loners who suffer under them.
    None of it sounds appealing to me.
    “Is that just peanut butter?” she asks, eyeing my sandwich.
    “Yeah.”
    “Ew.”
    “I’m used to it.”
    “Do you like it?”
    “No.”
    “We have jelly,” she laughs, turning to go to the cupboard.
    “Don’t bother,” I tell her, taking another bite. “You have grape.”
    “Grape is still jelly.”
    “Grape jelly is the act of a desperate man.”
    “You don’t think we’re in a desperate spot right now?”
    I shove the last of the sandwich into my mouth. “I’ve never been that desperate.”
    She thinks about that for a long time as I chew, looking her over. She feels my eyes but she doesn’t hide. She meets my stare and there’s something familiar in her eyes. Something hard and hot that I understand. That I feel from my head down into my toes the more I look at her.
    She picks up her glass still half full of water and brings it over. She leans her hip against the island next to me, the smell of her hitting me hard. Sweet and sexy. When I pick up the glass she watches me drink it down in one long gulp, then