Closed Hearts Read Online Free PDF Page A

my palms. “You know it’s true.”
    “So,” I said, taking the tattoo by the edge of the film. “Where should I put it?”
    He dug in his pocket again and came out with another film. “Actually, I have a matching set.” He held up my left wrist, placed one of the films on the skin right below it, and looked up at me. “Ready?”
    I nodded, and Raf blew a long, hot breath to activate it, then clamped down to press it into my skin. It burned as the acid from the synth-ink etched into my flesh, but the pressure made it easier to bear. I did the same for him, trying to make sure I gripped his wrist hard enough for the tattoo to take.
    He grinned at me while we waited the thirty seconds for the transfer to complete, then we peeled them off. I sucked in a breath when the fresh air met the acid and the stinging grew sharper. Raf lifted my hand to gently kiss my wrist, then leaned in close to kiss me on the lips. I linked into his mind again, for a proper thank you.
    A solid marble presence was suspended there. A jacker was in Raf’s head!
    Before I could react, Raf slumped into me, all two hundred pounds of soccer physique weighing me down as he fell. A growling scream surged up through me, but was muffled by Raf’s shirt in my face. I plunged deeper into his mind, shoving out the jacker that was there. Raf was alive, but he was knocked out. I struggled to keep him upright, but Raf’s dead weight pulled me down to the ground with him.
    “He should’a listened to you, little Kira,” rumbled a voice nearby. I flung out toward the jacker, reaching for his mind as a tug of awareness made me think I know that voice.
    I jacked deep into the firm gel of the jacker’s head and his name instantly popped up. Molloy. Ruthless jacker Clan leader that I had betrayed and left behind in an Arizona prison camp. He was supposed to be locked up with FBI Agent Kestrel, but instead he was here, at the Dutch Apple, knocking out Raf.
    I struggled with Raf’s body while I wrestled with Molloy in his mind. Heavy footsteps scraped the rough pavement next to me. I had to keep Molloy from executing whatever plans he had for me until I could get Raf safely away. I tunneled deeper in Molloy’s mind, searching for the places where I could inhibit his heart rate, make him stumble, anything, but he was too strong for me. He shoved me around, parrying every thrust I made.
    I linked a threat to him, hoping to slow him down. I swear, if you hurt him, I’ll …
    Something struck the side of my face, hard, flinging any thoughts right out of my head. I didn’t feel the pain for a full half second, then a blinding throb ripped across my face. My breath stopped with the force of it. I slumped on top of Raf and tried to get my bearings.
    “I thought you might be some trouble, little Kira,” Molloy said, his giant face a gray blur near mine. “Which is why I brought this.”
    An electric shock arced across my back and my entire body froze into a statue that clutched at Raf’s shirt. With a slithering itch, the shock rushed my brain, which sizzled and sparked like there was an electrical storm raging in my head. Then it shorted out and blackness descended on me, even though my eyes were wide open. The last thing I saw was Raf’s limp hand on the ground. In spite of all my efforts to hide, in spite of all my attempts to be someone else, it had come to this.
    The people I loved would pay the price for everything I had done.

I awoke to the feel of a finger brushing my cheek. It left a trail of pain in its wake, even though the touch was feather soft. I flinched, then I realized someone was touching me. Some praver that liked to touch girls when they were unconscious. I lashed out and my mind plunged deep into his. My entire body seized up, and my mind reflexively jerked away, like a hand dropping a red-hot plate. Only then did my brain register the sensations gripping my body. Icy pain. Bottomless grief. A deep dread, like all the brightness had been