Faithless Angel Read Online Free PDF Page B

a moonbeam directed at his kneeling form.
    The light grew brighter, swirling around him, comforting him, along with the voice.
    An eternity, Jesse. Remember that. We’re offering you an eternity
.
    Jesse fixed his gaze on the light and prayed for strength.
    Like a wave of peaceful serenity, the sensation washed through him, from the tips of his fingers to his toes. He opened his eyes in time to see the light fade into nothing more than a crack in the sagging ceiling. Then came complete darkness.
    A second chance
. The voice drifted through his head, calming him and keeping his emotions from boiling over.
    And though Jesse didn’t want to think of her, Faith Jansen’s image pushed its way into his mind, reminding him of his purpose. The one and only reason he’d come back in the first place.
    Not for vengeance. But for forgiveness. For Faith.
    He managed to climb to his feet.
    “You all right, mister?” The small voice camefrom one darkened corner of the room.
    Jesse’s thoughts disintegrated as he stared at the young girl, no more than thirteen or fourteen, who materialized from the shadows. A street lamp sent jagged shafts of light through a nearby window, illuminating her emaciated form. Concern sparkled in wide eyes that should have been wary when gazing at a man like him.
    But he wasn’t an average man. He was more, and perhaps she knew that, though he knew she hadn’t seen the light. That vision had been his alone, a link to the other side. Still, she sensed something different about him, and it kept her rooted to the spot when otherwise she might have bolted.
    She wore a tattered sweater, oversize jeans with holes at the knees, and boys’ hightop gym shoes that looked at least three sizes too big. A smudge of dirt marred the otherwise smooth features of her tanned complexion. Tangled shoulder-length blond hair surrounded her small face.
    “What are you doing here?” Jesse’s voice sounded harsh even to his own ears. She didn’t seem the least put off, however.
    “Keeping dry,” she said. “And staying away from the rats. They don’t like it much up here, and that suits me just fine.” She pulled an object up in front of her, and Jesse noticed the battered guitar she held.
    “You all by yourself?” he asked.
    She shrugged. “Got a few friends downstairs, but they don’t like to come up here much. They say it’s kinda creepy, considering what happened and all. You heard the story?” She took a step closer and added, “Some people got murdered up here, least that’s what they say.”
    “No kidding.” The words were more of a comment than a question.
    “Honest. One guy got sliced up right there where you’re standing. Lot of folks say his ghost lives up here. Can’t believe even a ghost would live in this run-down hole. Maybe one of them fine houses over in River Oaks, but not in a gutter like this. You ain’t a ghost, are you?” she asked, her face hinting at a grin, the expression making her look much younger, much more innocent than he’d first thought.
    “No.” Jesse flexed his fingers, the cold biting into his skin—living skin. He was all too real, a predicament he was about to do his damnedest to rectify.
    “I didn’t think so. Ain’t no such thing anyway. That’s what my ma used to say. Ghosts live in your head. Ain’t nothing to be frightened of in the world ’cept what you can see and touch. People are who you got to watch out for.”
    “Sounds like good advice.”
    “Yeah, my ma was good at giving advice. It was staying around she had a hard time with.” Pain flashed in her eyes—eyes that contrasted with the innocence of her face and made her look old again. Old and used. She shook her head, as if to shake away the memories. “It doesn’t matter anyway. I get along just fine without her.”
    “Fine, huh?” Jesse glanced around the room. “Living up here with the filth and the ghosts is fine?”
    “It ain’t that dirty, and like I told you, there ain’t no