Avenger Read Online Free PDF Page A

gaining a bit of confidence, some reassurance that her existence wasn’t hopeless, that there might be a way to get back in her body. She didn’t want to lose the one person who made her feel human. She waved goodbye to the cats and fell in step with him, determined to haunt him like the ghost he tagged her to be. “You’re going home?”
    A side-glance. “Yes, and you’re not invited.”
    Who needs an invitation? Pru had decided they were going to become best buddies until she found someone civilized to talk to or until she got her body back. Whichever came first.

Chapter Six
    At the shriek of the alarm clock, Luke flung the bed cover and sighed his frustration at the worst sleep he had ever had. He rechecked the time, it was indeed half past three in the afternoon.
    No privacy in my own house .
    Pru had followed him home last night and shadowed every move he made, except when he went to the bathroom. He finally fell into a restless and very much interrupted sleep despite her chatter about the moon and the stars. After that, the night of his death played again through his dreams.
    Luke shook that nightmarish memory from his head and focused on his current problem. Things would have been different if Pru were alive. She could’ve easily chased away the nightmare’s hateful tendrils with those soulful eyes of hers and that wicked chewing she did to her lips. He could rekindle his emotions toward her.
    No sex, of course , he thought to himself. He rolled his eyes skyward, unsure of Celestine’s whereabouts.
    Prudence Hall was his childhood crush and the uncrowned tomboy of the neighborhood in charge of all stray animals and roughnecks on the block. In those days, as much as he wanted her to notice him, he feared her rejection.
    The day Miguel hurled a brick at her forehead for telling him off her best friend, Carmen, was a very memorable day. As far as Luke could recall, it was hard to exercise self-control to refrain from killing Miguel. Still, it felt good to pummel him. To others, Luke claimed he never found him. Even when the other boy showed up in the neighborhood all blue, green, and purple, Luke maintained his claim of innocence. Miguel, for his part, knew what was good for him and avoided Luke’s path whenever possible.
    As Luke’s life grew more complicated, Pru disappeared from his mind, except whenever he glimpsed red wavy hair. Now here she was, a spirit that wouldn’t possess him and wouldn’t go away. She’d brought a new meaning to the word haunting. Luckily, the sun was up and he would enjoy a peaceful day without her presence. With a lazy smile spreading his lips, he rose to his feet, stretched to pop a couple of joints and froze.
    Pru was sitting on his windowsill, twiddling her fingers at him, smiling the most adorable morning smile he ever saw.
    “Fuck!”
     “And good morning to you too,” Pru said. She sounded proud of herself.
    “I can see you!” Luke exclaimed.
    “I wondered about the same thing last night. Remember?”
    “This isn’t normal. I shouldn’t be able to see you during the day.”
    “I would’ve offered you breakfast, but I go through things. Not that you have anything to go through in your kitchen cabinets anyway.” There was a giggle in her voice.
    “Celestine!”
    Pru glanced around sarcastically. “Who’s that? Your butler?”
    Unbidden, the image of Celestine in a black suit, hair jelled back, and a tray in his hand flashed through Luke’s head. He couldn’t hold back a grin.
    Pru stared at him, blinking. “You have teeth in your mouth. You can actually smile,” she said in awe.
    “You called?” Celestine asked, hovering by the bed, sounding exactly like Lurch of the Adams Family show.
    Luke cracked up with laughter, unable to stop himself.
    Celestine solidified and approached him. “Is something the matter?”
    The only thing that slowed down Luke’s laughing fit was the way Pru stared at his mouth—no, his lips—with a wistful smile tugging on