Read Online Her Black Heart (The Dark Amulet Series Book 2) by A.J. Norris - Free Book Online

thumb, and walked up the road to his car.
    “There he is.”
    “Who?” Aza asked.
    “Oh, my God, please stop asking dumb questions. Who have we been waiting for?”
    “The human, Chad.”
    She rose from the table. They stayed on this side of the street and followed until the car disappeared out of sight.
    “Stay here,” Aza said. “I’ll see where he’s going.”
    Julia crinkled her forehead. “How’re you gonna do that?”
    “I’ll be back.” He jogged into the small gap between buildings. When she got to the space where she saw him enter, he was gone.
    “What the hell?” Where did he go?
    After a while she asked a stranger on the street for the time. She’d lost her cell phone during her murder, or maybe she didn’t get to keep the piece of technology in the afterlife.
    Yeah, some afterlife.
    Where were the pearly gates and angels to take her home?
    Oh, that’s right I’m a monster.
    She paced back and forth, up to the coffee shop and down to the end of the block, until her feet ached.
    A woman chuckled behind her. She gasped.
    Augustina?
    Julia pivoted in time to see a familiar waddle. The way the woman walked made her wonder how she stayed on her feet. She caught up to her and stood directly behind her at the curb. Julia reached out to tap her on the shoulder then retracted her hand, thinking better of giving the poor old soul a heart attack. What would she say to her anyway, and why? She inhaled and rubbed the center of her chest. She squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them again, Augustina had disappeared as if she’d never been there. Was she going nuts?
    On her way back toward the café, she passed the opening between the buildings. She sensed Aza behind her well before he spoke.
    “I found the human, Chad,” he said.
    She looked down at his hands; the knuckles were bloody. “Did you kill him?”
    “No.”
    “Where is he?”
    “Not far. I heard him talking into a thin box.”
    “Thin box? You mean a cell phone?”
    Aza shrugged. “We can walk from here.” He strode away.
    “Okay, wait up, what did he say?”
    “He said he would be at the museum at eleven in the morning to pick up a check. I don’t know what this means.”
    “I do.” Julia said. “What museum? Institute of Arts and Culture, downtown, maybe?”
    Aza ran across the street. Horns honked. A motorist hung his head out of a passing car. “Watch it, asshole!”
    Slices of pain stabbed Julia’s back. In the middle of the street, she reached her hand over her shoulder and felt around. Her fingers touched a tender spot. “Oww. What the fuu…” She stopped on the double yellow line and several cars whipped past her on both sides. “Aza!”
    He wheeled around and darted across a lane of traffic. Tires squealed and more cussing ensued from the drivers. “What’s wrong?”
    “I dunno. My back hurts.” His eyes went round. “What’s the matter?”
    “Nothing, we must go.”
    Julia’s knees buckled as another wave of pain washed over her, and she hit the asphalt hard. She looked up at him. “Please…”
    Aza lifted her off the pavement from behind by her armpits and carried her with his arms straight out in front of him. He set her down on the sidewalk and asked if she was all right before he let go. She stood for a moment then listed to the side and would’ve fallen over if it weren’t for a city trash can in her way. Her upper body sprawled atop the round mesh container. The rotten meat stench made her glance inside. A half-eaten hamburger sat there, crawling with maggots. Her gag reflex forced her tongue forward. She pushed herself away and backed into a crosswalk signal. She staggered around like a drunk until she met up with something warm and solid.
    Aza.
    She hoped.
    Again, he steadied her with his hands under her armpits, but this time she faced him. His jaw clenched. He raised her until her eyes were level with his.
    “I-I’m okay, you can put me down.”
    “Are you sure?” He pulled her in