[Bayou Gavotte 03.0] Heart of Constantine Read Online Free PDF Page A

the cup and bowl. It was not as clear as those self-destructive suggestions he’d made earlier, but definitely a different timbre from her own thoughts. If he wanted the items, why let her take them?
    Surprise made her blurt, “Do you need a ride into town?”
    He shook his head. “I’m fine.”
    He didn’t look fine. She needed to get away before he asked anything more about Zeb. She cared about Zeb Bonnard; he was a troubled teen and one of the few people to whom she’d revealed that she could see auras. She’d had no choice when faced with Zeb’s astonishing ability to control his own aura and his desperate need for someone to confide in about it. She couldn’t leave him at the mercy of a vigilante, hero or not. She had to get some answers of her own first.
    “What are you planning to do with that stuff?” Constantine’s voice held a hint of laughter. She tried to read his colors, but whatever they revealed, it wasn’t amusement.
    “Find out who put it there,” she said.
    “You don’t know?” Supercilious on the surface, intensely focused underneath.
Tell me the truth, girl.
    “Of course I don’t know! Somebody drugged me, remember?” She shut the trunk. “I mean to find out who did it.”
    “No,” he said sharply. “No.”
    “No what?”
    “If you really don’t know, don’t try to find out. You’ll put yourself in danger.”
    She scowled. “Then why did you tell me to pick up the cup and bowl?”
    “Did I?” he asked, all innocence.
    She didn’t try to hide her annoyance. “That’s not the only telepathic message you sent me, and we both know it.”
    “Most people can’t tell that a telepathic message isn’t one of their own thoughts.”
    She shrugged, not wanting to get into this discussion. “I repeat: Why did you tell me to take the stuff?”
    “Because I couldn’t carry it all myself. Don’t have a vehicle with me either. I’ll pick it up later, and I’ll find out who put it here. You need to stay out of this.”
    “It’s a bit late for that,” she said.
    “No, it’s not.” His tone made her shiver. She followed his eyes and the tilt of his chin to where the nose of a low-slung car poked out from behind a hedge bordering the parking lot. “You can back out of this mess right now. Pretend we’ve had words.” A crow dove from the trees, its caws raucous and insistent. “Tell me to go to hell.”
    “After all I just implied about you to save your sorry butt?” The crow fluttered sharply onto the gravel, narrowly missing Constantine. He didn’t seem to notice. His eyes flickered, dark eyes with flecks of copper, sparks of heat. “Last chance, babe.” A BMW with Nathan at the wheel slithered toward them like a malevolent white rat. The snout of a camera followed their every move from the rear window. “Come on. Slap me across the face.” He leaned toward her, offered his cheek.
    More pissed off by the second, she took a step back. “Why would I do that?”
    “To dissociate yourself from me. It’s for your own safety. He may find out who you are and harass you a little, but once he realizes there’s nothing between us, he’ll leave you alone.”
    She glanced at the white car and back at Constantine.
    “Hit me, and I’ll distract him. Maybe you’ll manage to escape him completely.”
    God, what a temptation. The last thing she needed was a reporter following her around. If he found out who she was… She shut that thought away. He might find out anyway. Regardless, she couldn’t just quit.
    “I’ll have one of my bodyguards pick up that paraphernalia, and whoever set up that scenario will leave you alone, too,” Constantine said.
    “I can’t dissociate myself from you yet,” she said. “That would make people believe his allegations. I have to finish what I started up there.” She felt a flush crawl up her neck. “I didn’t mean that. I just meant—”
    “Don’t worry,” Constantine said dryly. “I don’t plan to take you up on your