Read Online Ill Wind by Rachel Caine - Free Book Online Page A

“Are you sick?”
    I wanted to tell him. I didn’t know why he couldn’t see it in me, but I needed him to know, to help —to get this thing out of me. I was shaking all over with the desire to tell him.
    And I couldn’t afford to. That was the one thing he wouldn’t let slide.
    â€œSick,” I finally agreed.
    â€œLet me help you. Please, just let me get Marion. She can help you—”
    â€œNo!” The protest ripped out of me with so much force, I felt it slam into him like a punch, and he pulled back. I struggled to get my voice under control. “No, she can’t. Nobody can. Understand?”
    He kept looking at me, studying me. I felt like he was seeing all the way through to the black shadow of the mark. God, I couldn’t risk that.
    â€œI’ve got to go,” I said. “Are you going to turn me in?”
    It was so quiet in the car that I could hear the ticks and pops of Delilah’s engine cooling, hear my own fast heartbeat. Somewhere off in the distance, thunder rumbled. He reached out and touched my cheek with one thick finger, caressed the line of my cheekbone, and then sat back like he wished he hadn’t touched me at all.
    â€œI’m not going to get on the hot line just yet. I’ll give you that much. But we both know Marion’s people will find you. And if they don’t, when the Council calls me to join the hunt, I’ll come at you, sweetheart. You know I will. I have no choice.” He let out a long breath. “Maybe that’s for the best. Because if you’re really sick—”
    â€œI know.” I was no longer looking at him, and I concentrated instead on my hands. My fingernails were ragged and torn. I picked at one and focused on a shiny red bead that appeared at the corner of one cuticle, lifted the hand to my mouth and tasted the warm copper tang of blood.
    â€œYou have five hours to get out of my sector,” hesaid. “Try to come back, and my Djinn will stop you. You don’t set foot in my territory, Joanne. Not until this is over. Understand?”
    â€œYes.” One-word answers were possible, but just barely. God, this hurt. I’d anticipated everything but how much it would hurt.
    Paul reached over and took my hand in his. His skin felt very warm and, startlingly, very rough. He worked with his hands, I remembered. On his car.
    â€œTell me,” he said. “Tell me where you’re going. I swear, it won’t go anywhere else. I just want to know.”
    â€œI can’t.” And I didn’t dare. Finally, I pulled in a deep breath and said, “I’m going after Lewis.”
    He looked confused. Bothered, even. “Lewis?”
    â€œLewis Orwell.”
    â€œI know who the fuck Lewis is. Everybody knows. Why Lewis?”
    â€œBecause he has three Djinn. I met one at his house, so he still has two more. I just need him to give me one.”
    â€œAt his house? ” Paul repeated. He wasn’t a guy who was surprised often, but his eyebrows shot skyward. “What do you mean, at his house? How can you know where he is?”
    â€œHe told me.” I sounded smug when I said it, but there, I’d kept the secret a long time. I deserved a little round of I’m-cooler-than-you, especially with Paul, who was rarely out of the loop. “Long time ago.”
    He gave me a richly deserved glare. “I’m not even asking what you did to get it.”
    â€œHey, I can’t help it if I’m irresistible.” Yes, definitely, that was smugness in my voice. I was comfortable with it. “Which is why he’s going to help me out and given me a Djinn.”
    He stared. “You’re fuckin’ crazy. Why the hell would Lewis do that?”
    â€œBecause,” I said, before I could think about it, “I think he used to be in love with me.”
    Paul shook his head, got out of the car, and then leaned in the passenger side