Read Online Immortal Coil by C. I. Black - Free Book Online Page A

a string of curses in a variety of languages, most of them dead.
    Wow, you can curse like a sailor in Latin and Old English. That’s impressive. Maybe if she tried humor, he’d open up a bit.
    How—?
    She bit back a chuckle. All things considered, it felt good to catch him off guard. Didn’t bother to find out anything about me, huh?
    I was respecting your privacy. He practically growled the words.
    I’m a— Her throat tightened. She wasn’t anything anymore. I was a linguist.
    He didn’t respond, but she could sense a thoughtfulness to his silence.
    The 81B pulled up to the stop and she got on, taking a seat close to the back.
    Now that you know something about me, why don’t you tell me something about you. Like what the heck is going on?
    You’re not going to believe me.
    She snorted and a woman with a toddler a few seats down gave her a concerned look.
    I’m talking to a voice in my head. I think I’ve already made the leap to unbelievable.
    Oh, it could get weirder than she imagined.
    The thought was so clear he might as well have said it.
    Would you just spit it out? His reluctance to share was driving her crazy.
    It’s better if you don’t know all the details. We’ll talk to... a friend and then talk to... another friend and...
    And then our problem will be fixed with vague unknowns who don’t even have names.
    That’s not fair.
    “Life isn’t fair.”
    The woman gave Anaea another furtive glance and hugged her child close.
    It’s better this way. And it would be easier if—
    No.
    But you don’t even know what I’m going to say.
    Oh, yes I do, and this is my body. You’re the interloper.
    The bus turned a tight corner and she clung to the pole beside her to keep from sliding from her seat.
    It’s dangerous if they don’t think it’s me.
    I’m sure it’s more dangerous if I don’t have a clue about what’s going on. Dangerous so far had involved getting shot in the chest and almost run through with a sword. But damn it. It was her body and the more she knew, the better she could cope.
    Hunter growled another string of curses. Fine.
    Fine.
    All right. He squirmed, twisting around within her and making her stomach churn. He really didn’t want to tell her anything, but it couldn’t possibly be worse than her current situation.
    Oh for goodness sake, spit it out already.
    I’m a spirit—
    I kind of got that.
    —of a race of spirits.
    “A race of what?”
    In your head.
    The woman with the kid stood and shuffled to the front of the bus.
    How can there be a race of spirits? And why can’t you just be spirits someplace else?
    Bitterness washed over her, but he sucked it back before she could identify any specific details about it. Without a human vessel I’ll lose cohesion and die, and there are consequences to changing vessels too often. As for the rest, you’re on a need-to-know basis, and that you don’t need to know.
    She bit back a nasty retort. Making demands just seemed to make him clam up. So he didn’t want to talk about his spirit state. Fine. She could relate , she didn’t particularly want to talk about her cancer. Okay, so you’re stuck in me.
    Until I can make arrangements for an appropriate, unoccupied vessel.
    And that will be when?
    As soon as business is taken care of.
    And that’s what we’re doing now? Taking care of business?
    Uh huh.
    And you said it was dangerous if they don’t think it’s you.
    My people have laws to protect us, to keep us a secret. Sharing a body with a person breaks one of our oldest laws. If they realize we’re both in here they’ll kill us. Hunter’s presence softened and regret seeped through her. I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in this. I had thought—
    The image of her standing on the bridge on the wrong side of the railing flashed through her mind’s eyes. He had thought he was doing the right thing by saving her. And now he was stuck in her and she was stuck with him... at least until business was taken care