Read Online Lure of Obsession (The Muse Chronicles Book 1) by Lisa Kessler - Free Book Online Page A

playfully and walked back over to the bench without looking back to see if he was following her. He took a seat beside her, and his smile faded.
    “When I took you home the other night, I touched the light switch and saw a man’s hand in a black glove turning it off. I thought I imagined it until I leaned on the banister and another vision showed up. In that one, a man wearing a black robe and a gold Kronos mask shoved your roommate down the stairs.” He brought a hand up to trace along the edge of her jaw. “I didn’t want you to be next.”
    Her pulse jumped at his tender caress. “Psychometry. You touch things and see what happened. Your gift.”
    He sighed and pulled away, leaving her aching for his touch again. “I wouldn’t call it that exactly. It doesn’t work all the time, and I can’t figure out how to turn it on.”
    “Maybe it only activates if there’s been violence.”
    He straightened up and met her eyes. “No. When we kissed the other night, I saw all the cities, all the Theaters of the Muses, and it ended here in Crystal City.” He took her hand. “It’s you. The visions have to be connected to the muses, don’t they? That’s why I saw your roommate’s killer and not the hit-and-run driver the other day. The injured bicyclist wasn’t a muse.”
    Okay, he was smart, too. Not only did he have a chiseled body and a scar, but with his intelligence and his ability to make connections, he would’ve been her type even if he weren’t sporting a mark from the gods.
    She nodded, refocusing. “Maybe that’s what drew you to the theater.”
    “Maybe? Once I got there and touched the fence, I saw a man in black sliding through an opening. The rest was instinct, I guess.”
    Her stomach chose that moment to remind them both that they hadn’t eaten dinner. Nate grinned and stood up, offering his hand. “Think they still have a table for us?”
    She took his hand, savoring the sizzle. “Only one way to find out.”

    Mel’s eyes sparkled as she discussed her students. She may have been the Muse of Tragedy, but she had no trouble laughing and obviously loving her kids and her work. Nate had a soft spot for kids. It was the relationships that led to children that were a problem. His alcoholic father had beaten his capacity for love and trust—of adults, at least—out of him.
    The scar on his arm from the bullet wound was the least of the battle wounds covering his body. Cuts from broken beer bottles, cigarette burns, and gashes from being shoved to the ground made him into a canvas of abuse, a reminder to him that trust and dependency only brought pain.
    Maggie’s toothless grin filled his head. She had depended on him, and look where it got her. He sipped his soda and forced himself to focus on Mel.
    “Did you want to be a teacher before you found your…muse?”
    “Yeah. I think so.” She shrugged. “I always loved to write, but I’m too social to be a writer for a living. Hours of being alone at a keyboard would make me nuts. Plus, I like kids. There’s a moment when they finally grasp a concept and you can almost see it in their eyes.”
    She sat back against her chair and smiled. “It’s a high to know you inspired someone.”
    “I can imagine.” He could also get used to seeing her smile.
    “So what about you? Did you always want to be a policeman?”
    Too close to home. He cleared his throat and shrugged. “I don’t know. I was always tangling with the bullies in school. I wasn’t a big guy then, but I did what I could to keep them away from the smaller kids. I never understood picking on someone just because you could.”
    He ground his teeth, refusing to allow his father to ruin his night. He grabbed the check. “Are you still staying with your friend?”
    She nodded.
    “She was a firecracker. What’s her muse?”
    “I’m going to start calling her that.” Mel laughed. Jesus, he wanted to hear more of that. “Callie’s the Muse of Epic Poetry.”
    He chuckled.