Read Online The Darkest Kiss by Gena Showalter - Free Book Online

was more baffled than ever.
    There were no answers here, only more questions, so he didn’t waste another minute. He followed Anya’s lighted trail, which was now a bright red—anger was taking root again—and found himself flashing to—
    A convenience store. He believed that was what mortals called the small shop.
    His eyebrows furrowed together. He was no longer in Budapest, he knew, for sunlight glowed brightly through the store’s windows. A multitude of people milled about, paying for fuel and buying snacks.
    Unseen, Lucien ventured outside. A horde of yellow cars sped along a nearby street, and mortals rushed along the crowded sidewalks. He found a shadowed alley and materialized without anyone the wiser. Curiosity propelling him, he strode back into the store. A bell tinkled.
    A woman gasped when she saw him, then looked away as quickly as possible. A child pointed at him and was reprimanded by his mother. Everyone backed away from him, inching as far from him as they could without seeming blatantly rude. There was a line leading to the cash register, which he bypassed without apology.
    No one protested.
    The cashier was a teenager, a boy who looked a lot like Gideon. Blue hair, piercings, tattoos. However, he lacked Gideon’s savage intensity as he smacked his gum and shuffled the money in his drawer. A quick glance at the tag on the boy’s shirt provided his name.
    â€œDennis, did you notice a pale-haired female in a short black skirt—”
    â€œAnd ice-blue barely-there top? Hell, yeah, I noticed,” Dennis finished for him as he closed the register. Lucien recognized the accent. He was in the States. The boy’s gaze lifted, and he stilled. Gulped. “Uh, yeah.” His voice shook. “I did. May I ask why?”
    Three emotions skidded through Lucien, none of them welcome: jealousy that another man had enjoyed the sight of Anya, eagerness that he was closer to finding her and dread that he was closer to finding her. “Did she speak to anyone?”
    The boy took a step backward and shook his head. “No.”
    â€œDid she buy anything?”
    There was a heavy pause, as if he was afraid his answer would send Lucien into a rage. “Kind of.”
    Kind of? When Dennis failed to elaborate, Lucien gritted his teeth and said, “What did she kind of buy?”
    â€œWh-why do you want to know? I mean, are you a cop or something? An ex-husband?”
    Lucien pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth. Calm, stay calm. He fixed his eyes on the paling human, capturing Dennis’s gaze and refusing to release it. The scent of roses began to drift from him, thickening the air.
    Dennis gulped again, but his eyes began to glaze over.
    â€œI asked you a question,” Lucien said softly, “and now you will answer. What did the woman buy?”
    â€œThree strawberry-and-cream lollipops,” was the trancelike reply. “But she didn’t buy them. She just grabbed them and walked off. I didn’t try to stop her or anything, I swear.”
    â€œShow me the lollipops.”
    With people moaning and muttering in protest at the delay—until Lucien glared at them and they quickly hushed—Dennis left the register and led him to the candy aisle. He pointed to a half-empty box of lollipops.
    Lucien pocketed two, not allowing himself to smell them as he so badly wanted, and withdrew several bills. Wrong currency, but giving the boy something was better than nothing. “How much do I owe you?”
    â€œThey’re on me.” Dennis held up his hands in a pretend show of friendship.
    He wanted to force the boy to take the money, but did not want to cause even more of a scene. In the end, he stuffed the bills back inside his pocket. “Return to your register,” he said, then pivoted to slowly survey the rest of the store. On the spiritual plane, there were millions upon millions of colors. Sorting through them proved