Cursed: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Thrice Cursed Mage Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

pointed behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder and saw a closed door that looked even cheaper than the threadbare carpet.
    “Alright,” I said, turning back toward her. She had another armful of trash. Evidently, she didn’t clean very often, but judging by the look of the place, it seemed like most of it may have been from the night before.
    “I’ll try to find you something to wear. My ex left some of his stuff here, and he was about your size.” Even though I didn’t know her well, a wistful sadness seemed to fill her as she said the words.
    Before I could respond, the door directly behind her burst open and a boy about eight years old with dark bedraggled hair stepped out into the living room.
    “Mom, you’re home!” he squeaked, rushing toward her before stopping suddenly as he caught sight of me. “Who is that?” He pointed at me, accusation and confusion filling his tiny face.
    A look of panic burst across the brunette’s face before melting into an expression of horror. She spun on her heels, still clutching the takeout bags and stared at the boy in disbelief. “John, why are you home?” She looked him up and down, taking in his Spider-man T-shirt and blue jeans like they were out of place. “And why aren’t you in your uniform?”
    “A water pipe broke at school so they had to send us home because there was no more running water.” The boy shrugged. “So when I got off the bus, I came up and changed. They said they called you.”
    Embarrassment filled her cheeks as she dropped the bags onto the counter and snatched her battered black purse off the table. She opened it in a flurry and pulled out a small pink phone and stared at it.
    “Christ,” she muttered, punching in some buttons on the phone and holding it to her ear. While I couldn’t make out the words, an automated voice droned from the device. A moment later, she pulled the phone away and stared at the boy.
    “Can you go to Emily’s for a little while? Mommy has some errands to run.” She stared at him apologetically, and I felt like the worse kind of slime simply for existing. “We can go get iced cream when I get back, okay?”
    The boy looked at her for a long time before sighing loudly. “Fine,” he grumbled before glaring at me like it was my fault, which it probably was. Then he trudged past me toward the door, pausing only to snag a Transformer that looked like Optimus Prime off the counter.
    The door opened and closed behind me, but even still I could hear him walk only a few feet before knocking on another door. It opened, there were some muffled words. It shut.
    “Emily is my neighbor. She’s an old widow and watches John sometimes when I’m at work,” the brunette said by way of explanation, her cheeks still filled with cherry-colored embarrassment.
    I waved my hand, trying to dismiss her sudden need to explain herself. Truthfully, I felt pretty horrible about being here, and now I was basically forcing her son to have to go stay with a neighbor. If I’d done the smart thing and left to look for my wallet in the alley like I’d originally planned on doing, she would be able to spend time with her son now.
    I still wasn’t quite sure why I’d come with her. Part of it was that I really wanted to try getting this black stuff off my arm. If a shower didn’t work, my next bath was going to be in a vat of paint thinner. The other part was a little more complicated because I couldn’t quite explain it to myself. Since the moment I’d seen her getting beaten up by those guys in the laundromat, I had the urge to protect her. It was silly, especially since I didn’t even know who I was, let alone who she was, but there it was.
    “You don’t need to explain yourself to me.” I turned toward the bathroom. “I really appreciate this, by the way. I’ll be out of your hair in only a moment.” I shot her a grin. “I mean, if I was a good person I’d just leave right now, but have you smelled me?”
    She wrinkled