Binding the Shadows (Arcadia Bell) Read Online Free PDF Page B

fifty-fifty chance of being legal.
    And if they thought they were going to pass off fake IDs, they could think again.
    “Where’s Doctor Feelgood?” Kar Yee asked.
    Her nickname for Bob, a thirty-something Hawaiian shirt–wearing Earthbound who’d spent most of his nights at Tambuku since the first day we opened. Bob’s father was a popular Earthbound doctor here in Morella before he passed away, and Bob inherited a milder version of the man’s healing knack.
    “He was in here a second ago,” I said, then gestured toward the arched hallway at the back of the bar, where our TV hung under a net of twinkling white lights. “Maybe in the restroom.”
    “I pulled a muscle,” Kar Yee complained, rubbing her shoulder.
    “Oh, I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to put his hands on you.”
    Kar Yee’s kohl-rimmed eyes narrowed. “Bob needs a girlfriend. Hell, I need somebody, too. Looks like you’re the only lucky one for a change. By the way, I know a secret you don’t know.”
    I stared at her. “What secret?”
    “Just a little something,” she said enigmatically, with a teasing lilt to her voice. “A surprise. My future boyfriend told me.”
    “Oh, that reminds me . . .” I leaned down beneath the bar and rummaged around for a small package. “Someone asked me to give this to you.”
    Kar Yee reluctantly accepted the gift. It was bundled in Cthulhu print wrapping paper, complete with green tentacles—and way too much tape. Her face relaxed when she read the sloppy, hand-printed label. “A present from Jupe?”
    “He says you can’t open it before Christmas.”
    She shook it near her ear and grinned. “What is it?”
    “Not telling, but it’s pretty sweet.”
    “I have to know. Don’t tell him I opened it early.” She tore into the wrapping and pulled out a small wooden box. Inside sat a small figurine carved from wood: a beautiful but strange female with long robes and a gold and silver mask painted over her face. “It’s a traditional Chinese opera character,” she said in small voice. “My mother loves the opera.”
    “Jupe said gold and silver would be someone supernatural. A demon.”
    She turned it in her hands, seeing the green disk that had been placed over the crown of the figure’s head. “It represents me.” As she grinned, two deep dimples appeared in her cheeks.
    “He ordered it from someone in San Francisco who makes them.”
    “I love it! What a nice gift.” Her smile faltered. “Now I have to get him something?”
    “It would be the polite thing to do, yes.”
    “What do I know about teenage boys?”
    “Enough to encourage this stupid infatuation, apparently,” I complained.
    “He realizes I’m teasing about the ‘boyfriend’ comments.”
    “You know he’s using one of those pictures he took of you on the boat last month as the screensaver on his laptop? God only knows what else he’s done with it. Probably photoshopped your head onto some porn star’s body.”
    Her thin lips tilted in a slow smile.
    “It’s not funny,” I said. “Get him a movie gift card. His feelings are going to be crushed if you don’t do something.”
    She dropped Jupe’s present inside the pocket of her gold and black coat. “Technically, my dad is Jewish, you know. I am under no obligation to participate in this holiday.”
    “I thought Judaism was passed down through the mother.”
    “Well, my mother is a Taoist, so I’m covered either way.”
    “You said your mother always puts up a Christmas tree in Hong Kong!”
    She sighed heavily. “Can’t you just put my name on a gift you’ve already bought? I’ll pay you back.”
    “Maybe if you tell me more about this ‘surprise.’ ”
    “No can do. I’m the official secret-keeper. Jupiter trusts me.”
    I muttered to myself, but was reminded about a certain secret of my own that I needed to spill. I had no idea how she was going to react; even if Lon thought she’d accept my real history, I wasn’t completely