Read Online Sing for the Dead (London Undead) by PJ Schnyder - Free Book Online Page A

cocky, arrogant, at first. This latest version of him puzzled her.
    “Shape-shifters live long lives, do they not?” She’d thought so, but in her experience, only mortals’ finite lives burned with such brilliance.
    Kayden didn’t look back, instead shrugging his shoulders. “Seth is older.”
    “You are not young for your kind either.” Where did he get his energy from, then? If not the fear of death or the blessing of youth, why did he live so fiercely?
    “No.” Kayden chuckled. “Are you hoping for me to be younger or older? I’ve seen a lot in my time. Some of it can age a man beyond his years, but then again, that sort of time can also give a man an appreciation for the time he has on this earth.”
    She shook her head, struggled to make sense of it. “You are unlike any being I’ve ever known.”
    “Ah well, then.” He tugged her round by the hand to lead her up a set of steps onto the landing of a townhouse. “Isn’t that the honest truth? And I’d be willing to bet you’ll never meet the likes of me ever again. Best get to know me while you have the chance.”
    He winked at her.
    Whatever the encounter with the zombie child had done to him, he was recovering quickly. Before she could think of any sort of response, he opened the door and ushered her inside. “The lift works, but I tend to prefer the stairs.”
    As did she. She set her foot to the first step and began climbing. “Lifts are too close, fail too often.”
    Attacks were too easy when one was trapped in a tiny box of metal, some made of cold iron.
    “For one of the Fair Folk, you seem to handle the...machinery of modern housing without much of a fuss.”
    She kept on up the stairs, but she appreciated his attempt at circumspection. Good to be around another warrior, one who respected the reluctance to discuss potential weaknesses. “My mortal blood affords me some resistance. A metal box is still a metal box, though.”
    Even some humans harbored issues with such closed spaces.
    “Aye, it is.” Kayden chuckled, the sound sending delicate shivers up her spine.
    She missed a step.
    “Careful now.” Strong hands came around her, one cupping her elbow and the other at her waist providing a steadying support. “Only a few more flights. My flat is on the sixth floor. Are ye coming down off the combat high, then?”
    “I’m all right.” In truth, it was worse. Her limbs shook with fatigue and her coordination obviously had gotten away from her. There’d been battles in the past where she’d fallen in her own tracks once the bloodlust drained from her. Too afraid to approach, her own allies had left her where she lay. In moments, she’d fall into oblivion. Helpless.
    Not yet.
    “Shall I carry you?” Beneath the teasing lilt, she heard an undercurrent of worry in Kayden’s voice.
    Shaking her head, she grit her teeth and pressed onward. She wouldn’t be humiliated by a few flights of stairs. “No need.”
    “I’ve not got many supplies, but there’s a pot of soup on the stove. We’ll have a bowl each to warm us up, and then I’ll see you tucked into bed.”
    “A blanket would suffice.” The words tumbled out faster than she’d meant. Would he think her afraid?
    “Ah, lass, my mother’d turn in her grave if she found she’d raised a boy who couldn’t take proper care of a lady.” Kayden clucked and pressed her forward onto the landing of the top level. “I’ve slept plenty a night on the floor and can do it again. I’ll not get a wink of sleep if you refuse the comfort of my bed and we’ll both end up on the floor for no reason but pride. Better you let me see to your comfort and we’ll both get some rest. It’s the way of it for good men raised proper, more so for shape-shifters. The more dominant we are, the more it fusses us when we cannae care for the friends we’ve made.”
    He opened the door to his flat and entered first. She did not particularly mind what some might have considered a breach of