Read Online Where The Heart Lives by Marjorie Liu - Free Book Online Page A

“Please. I was told to come.”
    “Who
told you?”
    She
flashed me a hard, frightened look. “A voice in a dream. I was ordered to give
you something that belongs to my host.”
    I
frowned. A voice in a dream? Really?
    Unfortunately,
it sounded too strange to be a lie. And that demon was genuinely terrified.
    I
reached for the bowling bag. I wasn’t worried about its being a bomb. I’d
survive a nuclear blast—or bullets, knives, fire. Sending me to the bottom of
the ocean wouldn’t kill me, either. Not while the sun shone, somewhere above
me.
    The
possessed woman snatched back her hand before I had a full grip on the
oversized handle, and I almost dropped it—partially because it was unexpectedly
heavy. The shape as it bumped my leg felt round and hard.
    “This
better not be a human head,” I muttered.
    She
shuddered. “Close.”
    I
flashed her a hard look and unzipped the bowling bag.
    No
hair or bone inside. No blood. The afternoon light gleamed off a round, smooth,
surface—clear as glass. I reached inside, bracing myself as the armor encasing
much of my right hand and forearm began tingling again, like pins and needles.
    Nothing
happened, though. The armor quieted. I slid my hand under the cool, hard
object—and lifted it from the bowling bag.
    I
stared, for a moment unsure what I was looking at. I saw depressions for eyes,
a hard jaw and rows of teeth . . . but it was all wrong, and
eerie.
    Yes,
there was a head in the bowling bag. A skull.
    But
it was carved from crystal. And it did not look human.
    “Groovy,”
I said. “But what the hell?”
    The
demon tore her gaze away, trembling. Moments later, I also started
quivering—unable to help myself as a tiny tsunami rolled over every inch of my
skin. Zee stretched and rippled, as did the rest of the boys, all of them
tugging, pulling, struggling toward the crystal skull in my hand.
    The
truck’s engine roared. I jumped back as the vehicle jolted forward, spitting
dust in my face. The driver’s side door was still open, swinging wildly, but
the possessed woman had pulled her leg inside and was twisting at the steering
wheel, her aura flaring wild and dark. I dropped the skull inside the bag, and
ran after her.
    Too
slow, too late. The front bumper hit my knee as she accelerated past, but the
boys deflected the impact. I tried to grab the door, but all I caught was
air—and a glimpse of her determined, terrified expression.
    I
stopped running and watched the truck tear down the driveway in a choking cloud
of dust. Bewildered, feeling stupid. Would that possessed woman have been able
to pull off the same escape a year ago? Was I that sloppy?
    Or am I getting too used to letting
demons go?
    I
hated both possibilities. Might as well stick one foot in the grave. I was
losing my edge.
    That,
or the edge had shifted sideways. Demonic possession didn’t mean the same thing
anymore. It didn’t feel like the same threat I’d always thought it to be—not
now, not after being exposed to far more immediate, and terrible, dangers.
    I
had lived my life believing that I was supposed to kill demons— all demons.
    But
the truth was worse.
    I
was the very thing that needed to be feared most. My body, a prison for five of
the most dangerous demons ever to exist.
    Reaper
Kings. Devourers of worlds.
    And
I was their Queen.
     
    ***
     
    To read more of THE MORTAL
BONE, and to learn about the Hunter Kiss series, please visit my website at www.marjoriemliu.com .