Read Online Sixth Grave on the Edge by Darynda Jones - Free Book Online

around, and plopped down on his stomach to incapacitate him. Then I proceeded to tickle him until he begged for mercy.
    “Okay, okay,” he said, laughing like a schoolkid. It was nice. “I give up.”
    “What’s up with the nice act?” When he hesitated, I went back in for the ribs.
    “No! Okay, I’ll tell you. I’m just happy. My mom’s doing really well.”
    “Yeah, thanks to the raise I gave you. So, she fell for the ‘dead uncle left her money’ thing?”
    He wiped his eyes as I let him up. “Seems like it. She’s just happier now. Something has changed.”
    “Angel, maybe she’s happy because she’s figured out you’re still around.”
    His disposition went from light to dark in a flash. “No, she’s not. I told you, I don’t want her to know.”
    “I know. Geez. I didn’t tell her anything. But she suspects. You know that, right?”
    He sat back down and rubbed the peach fuzz on his chin. “I know. As long as she doesn’t know for certain, she’ll be fine.”
    “Well, either way,” I said, going to warm up my coffee, “I’m glad she’s doing well.”
    “Yeah, me, too.”
    “I have two jobs for you.”
    “Okay, but I’ve decided I need weekends and holidays off.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. It just sounds good. And I need benefits.”
    I gave him my best deadpan expression. “Isn’t it a little late for medical?”
    “No, I need other benefits. Like seeing you naked. But only sometimes. I’m not greedy.”
    “You are not seeing me naked. Now, do you want to know the jobs or not?”
    “Sure. Why not? I’m only dead. It’s not like I can argue.”
    I curled up beside him, and he put an arm around my shoulders. “Can we make out?”
    “No. Can you draw?”
    He shrugged. “I used to be pretty good. Haven’t tried it in about thirty years.”
    “But you can manipulate objects sometimes. I’ve seen you.”
    “Yeah. Do you need a nude portrait done?”
    “Yes, actually, I do.”
    He rose slightly. “Really?”
    “Yes. Of Mr. Wong’s back.”
    Disappointment lined his handsome face. “That old guy? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
    “Why?”
    “I don’t know. He’s … escalofriante .”
    “Angel Garza,” I said, leaning away from him. “Mr. Wong is not creepy. Why would he give you the chills?”
    “He just does.”
    “That’s not nice.”
    “Whatever you say, ’jita .”
    “And you can’t call me ’jita . It’s wrong. I’m older than you are.”
    He still had his arm on my shoulders when his full mouth tilted playfully. “You are not older than me. If you’ll let me see you naked, I’ll prove it to you.”
    The way Angel talked, the departed could have sex. But really? Could they? I wasn’t about to find out with a thirteen-year-old. “You are not seeing me naked. I need you to draw the tattoos on his back.”
    “I can try, but I don’t think he’ll like it. What if he’s ticklish?”
    I pursed my lips in reprimand. “I don’t know what else to do, unless you can talk to him and find out who he is.”
    “I’ve already told you: I’m not a ghost whisperer. And if you could see what I see, you wouldn’t even want to know who he is.”
    I bolted upright. “Why? What do you see?” Then I remembered something. When I was hurt and almost burned alive, I’d seen Reyes’s darkness, the flames that forever engulfed him, the scars from his past. Reyes said I was looking at him from another plane. Now I just had to remember how I did that.
    I looked back at Mr. Wong and concentrated. Then I squinted. Then I squinted harder until he became a blurry patch of gray.
    “Is it working?” Angel asked, a soft laugh escaping him.
    I gave up with a hopeless sigh. “No.”
    “You’re the grim freaking reaper. You can do anything. You just haven’t figured that out yet.”
    “Dude, how do you know more than I do? Are my abilities, like, common departed knowledge?”
    “No,” he said with a shrug. “You kind of learn things as you go.