Read Online Soul Deep: Dark Souls, Book 2 by Anne Hope - Free Book Online Page B

damn funny when she wanted to be. “No, I didn’t get him a dress, just some athletic wear and a cap. His hair’s nearly as bad as yours.”
    Regan’s fingers sought out her curls, now tamed in a bun. “There’s nothing wrong with my hair. I like my hair.”
    He liked it, too. A hell of a lot. Half the time he couldn’t stop himself from touching it. Even now he fought the compulsion to free it from its elastic band and let it tumble over his hands, to bury his fingers in the rich curls and feel them cling to his skin like a web of spun silk. He pictured that hair spread out on a white pillow, burning like a flame.
    Prying his gaze away, he dug into his pocket for the car keys. “I’m going to start loading the Jeep. Why don’t you and Ben meet me outside?”
    “Sure.” She tugged on the dress, then ran her palms over her hips to smooth out the fabric. His gaze followed the slow glide of her hands down the length of her body. Forbidden hungers erupted within him, and the keys nearly slipped from his grasp.
    Marcus swallowed an oath, tightening his grip on the key ring. He could’ve sworn the walls were suddenly closing in on him, the cabin itself shrinking. The need for fresh air buffeted him, so he tore out into the stark day. A day that was now painfully bright, cleaved by a soft breeze that still carried the lingering scent of rain.
     
     
    The Jeep was thankfully equipped with a DVD system, which kept Ben busy on the long ride to Portland. Marcus had decided that a big city was their best bet, and Regan hadn’t bothered to contradict him. No one understood the business of tracking better than he did. If Marcus said they needed a highly populated area to conceal them, then she believed him.
    Right now, they drove on an open road, seemingly all alone in a world that never failed to remind them they were outcasts. In the distance, the street narrowed, a singular point on the endless horizon, beyond which the sun glowed a blinding white. An icy chill ran down Regan’s spine as Ben’s words returned to haunt her.
    “ Then there’s this flash and everything goes bright. So bright I can’t see anything. ”
    She pictured a huge blast, a nuclear explosion, an electric storm powerful enough to wipe out an entire planet. Angling a glance over her shoulder, she studied Ben, who was engrossed in a lively episode of Looney Tunes .
    She hadn’t told Marcus about the dream, hadn’t wanted to reinforce Cal’s prediction that this small boy would somehow trigger Armageddon. But a tiny seed of apprehension had nonetheless taken root within her.
    “You’re awfully quiet.” The winding road cut a swath through a group of hemlocks, with their scaly trunks and long, tilted crowns.
    “Enjoy it while it lasts,” she quipped.
    Another swell of silence followed, until she felt compelled to shatter it. The last thing she wanted was for Marcus to grow suspicious and start questioning her. “So where’d you get the Jeep?” she asked.
    “At a campground near Sand Lake. I convinced this good Samaritan to let me borrow it, along with his wallet and credit cards.”
    “Convinced, huh?”
    He gave her a cocky grin. “You know how persuasive I can be when I set my mind to it.”
    If Marcus had been so inclined, he could’ve willed the poor guy to dance naked around the campfire while howling at a watery moon. It was precisely this skill that allowed their rivals to corrupt mankind and spread chaos as easily as they breathed, and why it was so important that they be kept in check.
    “What if he reports it stolen?”
    “He won’t. I made sure of it. But just in case, I switched the plates.”
    Farther down the road, sporadic patches of dogwoods in full bloom scattered petals across the road like a group of eager flower girls.
    “Why the wallet and credit cards?”
    He shot her another disapproving glance. “You don’t get out much, do you?”
    Regan tamped down a prickle of indignation. “Kinda comes with the