Read Online The Dead List by Jennifer L. Armentrout - Free Book Online Page A

flutter started between my ribs, like a little hummingbird trying to fly its way out. And I hadn’t ever felt that with Gavin or anyone else.
    “I think it’s obvious,” I managed to say.
    One eyebrow rose. “How so?”
    “You haven’t talked to me in four years.”
    “Ella, I moved away.”
    Anger flashed through me, bright like the sun. “Um, the last time I checked there is a nifty invention call the telephone and the Internet.”
    “Yeah, I think I’ve heard of that, but… you know, there was some shit going on. More than what you think, but you know what else? I’m pretty sure the whole communication thing goes both ways. You didn’t try to contact me,” he added before I could question the whole ‘more than you think’ comment. He shifted just the slightest, keeping his eyes trained on mine with an intensity that had always been his. “And if I remember correctly, I did try to talk to you when I came back to Martinsburg. At school my very first day here, and you told me to stay away from you. That was the second time you’ve told me that.”
    Oh, he had a point with that and I wanted to ignore it. “I think this was—”
    Jensen moved so quickly I didn’t have the chance to do anything. He grasped my upper arms and whirled my around. My grip tightened on my keys and phone, but they were of little use as his arms came down around me, clamping my arms to my sides.
    Air whooshed out of my lungs as he jerked me back against his chest. Momentarily stunned, I was torn between being wholly aware of the feel of him pressed against me, and the memory of the last time I was snared in such a grip.
    “What are you doing?” I shrieked.
    His chin grazed my cheek as he lowered his head. “Starting your first lesson. Probably the most important.”
    My eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. This was a bad idea, like the height of all my bad ideas combined into one giant stupid idea. “My first lesson?”
    “You know, the whole self-defense thing?” Amusement clung to his tone.
    “B-But I’m not even wearing workout clothing,” I stammered, irritated with him and myself and the world and the Queen of England.
    “That’s good. You know why?”
    I frowned as I tried to pull forward, but there was no breaking his hold. “I bet you’re going to tell me.”
    “Your movements are restricted in normal clothes, and the likelihood of you being attacked walking out of gym class, wearing gym clothes, sounds a bit unlikely, eh?”
    For a second, I pictured myself breaking free like a ninja and karate-chopping him across the head. That was also as unlikely as being attacked moments after leaving gym class. “You don’t have to be a smartass about it.”
    His deep chuckle rumbled through me, eliciting a shiver from me. His laugh died off and a heartbeat passed between us. The warmth of his body rolled into me, loosening a bit of the knots in my stomach. His grip didn’t loosen, but his body tensed behind mine. In that tiny span of time, it felt like something shifted between us, something potent and consuming.
    And then he opened his mouth.
    “How did he grab you?” When I didn’t answer, he tried again. “How did he grab you, Ella? Like this? From behind?”
    I blinked a couple of times, and my heart leaped into my throat. In a nanosecond, ice trickled into my veins. “Yeah.”
    “And what did you do?”
    What did I do? Memories rushed over me like a disturbing photo album. As I stared at the closed doors with covered windows, I was no longer in this room. I was back on the long dark stretch of road, right near my car, so close and yet so very far away. “Let me go.”
    The muscles in his arms twitched. “Is that how you got free? I don’t think that worked.”
    Of course it hadn’t. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling my feet suddenly in the air and the horror of being weightless as I was dragged back away from my car, toward the woods. My chest rose and fell rapidly. “He slipped,” I