Grim Read Online Free PDF Page B

two.”
    â€œYou think that it’s a bad idea too, don’t you?”
    â€œI’m not getting into this. I’ll call back in the morning.”
    Shawn frowned. “Good night,” he said.
    â€œNight.”
    Shawn found Rebecca at the kitchen table with her head nestled in her arms. A cluster of beer bottles crowded near her elbow, their folded caps scattered across the floor. The room reeked of hops and vomit.
    Shawn dropped the bottles into the trash and nudged his sister awake.
    â€œWho came over, Becca?”
    She blinked at him, mascara sticking her lashes together. There were trails of makeup down her cheeks and chin, mapping out her tears. “Ashley,” she said. Her voice came out hoarse from crying.
    Shawn didn’t ask anything else. He didn’t want to criticize.
    They walked upstairs together, with Rebecca leaning against her brother. He dropped a blanket over her once she made it to bed.
    â€œShawn?”
    â€œYeah?”
    Rebecca didn’t open her eyes, but her voice came out soft, pleading. “Don’t let Mom know, okay? She’d kill me.”
    His chest tightened as he sighed. “Okay.”
    â€œPromise?”
    â€œI promise,” he said. “Now go to sleep.”
    Shawn closed the door and checked on Megan before turning to his own room. At the end of the hall, his mother’s bedroom stood open. He wanted to go in and soak up the smell of her air freshener. Rebecca had never let her spray it anywhere else in the house, saying that it gave her a migraine. Now the scent of bottled rain, light and cool, seeped into the hallway. For the first time, Shawn realized just how much he loved it.
    Â 
    Jeremiah broke away from Erika before they touched the ground. She found her voice in a scream as she slammed into the rigid clay floor. Jeremiah rolled to a stop and sprang to his feet. They were in a clearing, but the earth was still packed solid, the trees still bare and straight and lonely. A quiet wind chuckled through the stripped twigs and branches overhead.
    Erika ignored Jeremiah’s proffered hand and pushed herself up. “What happened?”
    He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter.”
    â€œWhat did you do to me?”
    â€œI … I can’t …” Jeremiah pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. “Don’t ask me, Erika. Please don’t ask me.”
    â€œTell me! Tell me what you did.”
    â€œI can’t.”
    â€œWhy not?”
    â€œI can’t .” He ran a hand through his hair. “We had to move quickly. Too quick for you. It’s just a bit of magic.”
    â€œMagic?” she shrieked. “ A bit of magic? Who are you?”
    â€œNo one.” Jeremiah’s voice was thick, afraid. “Just whoever you make me out to be.”
    â€œWhat do you want from me?” Panic tightened Erika’s throat. She took a step back and choked out her last question. “What are you going to do to me?”
    â€œNothing,” Jeremiah told her. “I’ve already done the worst. I’m sorry, Erika — I’m sorry. But I need to get home and I can’t do it by myself.”
    â€œGet away .”
    â€œErika, please.” He whipped out his pocketknife and flipped it open. “The Passing Woods only open up for human souls.”
    â€œOh God!”
    Jeremiah shrugged off one of his jacket sleeves. “Look.” He sank the knife into the soft underside of his arm and ran it up toward the elbow. His skin pulled away from the blade, but no blood came to the surface. Instead, a thin ribbon of smoke seeped out and hovered in the air around him. He ran his fingers through it, dispersing the curls of charcoal gray until they’d faded. “There’s nowhere to hide out there. I had to get back in. So I needed you,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
    His cut sealed itself back into smooth skin. Erika