Black and Blue Read Online Free PDF

allow. It was difficult to do, every step jostling him, agonizing him, but he’d trained for every eventuality over the years, even something like this. No one would be able to get a lock on him.
    He passed a busy shopping center—but not before he caught a glimpse of his reflection in one of the store windows. His hair was gone. Even his eyebrows were gone, and one of his eyes drooped onto his cheek. He had a patch of flesh on his left side, but that was it. Everything else was raw and red.
    Hideous.
    Whatever. He’d had worse injuries. He would heal. Would even grow a new hand.
    There was Pagan’s house. A three-story restored brownstone he’d bought for her. How much longer could he stay on his feet? What little strength he possessed waned with . . . every . . . second. . . .
    *  *  *
    The laughter woke him.
    Blue jolted upright, hissing as a stark, burning anguishclaimed him. A black crust had formed over his exposed muscles, cracking with his movement. Each of his bones felt brittle, ready to shatter at any moment.
    He looked around, taking stock. Dark red walls, a black sink and toilet. He’d made it inside Pagan’s home, he realized, but he must have passed out in the guest bathroom, thinking to clean up before confronting her. How much time had passed?
    “In three months, I’m going to be Mrs. Corbin Blue,” Pagan crowed. “Can you believe it?”
    “He’s so beautiful. All that silky white hair . . . those lavender eyes . . . and oh, those lips! So lush and red. I’d say they were better suited for a woman, but they look too good on him.”
    Her sister’s voice.
    “I know,” Pagan said with a giggle. “He’s absolutely perfect.”
    “But aren’t you worried about his . . .” the sister continued somberly.
    “His what?” Pagan prompted.
    “Well, his infidelities.”
    His fiancée scoffed, and his admiration for her tripled. “He and I have an open relationship. He tells me when he’s going to be with someone else, and I extend him the same courtesy.”
    “What! You’ve been with other men?” the sister gasped out.
    “He thinks so, yes.”
    “But you actually haven’t?” the girl insisted.
    “No.”
    “But . . . why would you want him to think so? Isn’t he jealous?”
    “First, men want what other men want. Second, no, he isn’t.”
    Was that bitterness in her tone?
    “But what if he falls in love with one of his affairs?” the sister asked.
    “Blue? Fall in love?” Pagan snorted. “No matter how much he smiles and teases, that man is emotionally shut off. But, okay, let’s say he does the impossible and falls in love. So what? I’ll be his wife and the mother of his children. He’ll never leave me.”
    A crack in the door allowed him to peer into the living room where the girls sat, sipping wine. Pagan wore a skintight dress that stopped just below the line of her panties. If she was even wearing panties. Most nights she wasn’t. Her voluminous breasts practically spilled from her halter top, just the way she knew he liked. Her skin was a perfect golden brown, bronzed by a reverent sun. Sexy. A chic crop of platinum hair framed a face most men would only ever see in their wet dreams.
    She wasn’t under attack, as he’d feared. He should leave. If he revealed himself, she wouldn’t recognize him. Who would? He might be able to convince her of his identity, but she would insist on taking him to the hospital. He couldn’t risk it.
    Right now, the person responsible for his condition might assume he was dead. It would be better for Blue—and Pagan—if that person continued to assume so.
    Should have thought this through first.
    Now, at least, he knew Pagan hadn’t been targeted.
    Where could he go?
    Who could he trust?
    Who had tried to kill him? And why?
    And where were his friends? Had they survived?
    They must have. He wouldn’t believe anything else.
    Darkness . . . weaving through his vision . . .
    He had to get somewhere, and fast,