Jenny Plague-Bringer: (Jenny Pox #4) Read Online Free PDF Page B

sofa in the living room, rereading a vampire book by Anne Rice that
     she’d loved as a kid.  She’d always identified with Louis, the moody vampire who didn’t
     really want to kill anyone.  Now she was staying in Paris, as Louis had for a while.
    “I’m fine.” Jenny followed Seth into the kitchen, where he set his cloth grocery bag
     on the marble counter.  He unloaded tomatoes, three kinds of cheese, and a long, crusty
     baguette, which had been baked very recently, judging by the delicious aroma that
     filled the apartment.
    “You’re sure?” he asked. “Nothing happened today?”
    “Sometimes you just have a bad day.”
    “I’ll cook dinner, then.  That’ll make you feel better.”
    “Um...I doubt it.  You should let me do it.” Jenny approached the stove.
    “Are you questioning my cooking skills?” Seth asked. “Who poured you that awesome
     bowl of Chocos cereal yesterday?  Tell me that.”
    “You’re a master at adding milk.”
    “As long you acknowledge that, I’ll let you cook.  There’s pasta, there’s organic
     chicken...”
    Jenny reached for the bottle of wine Seth had brought home, then hesitated.  She could
     really use a glass just now, but the idea of drinking while pregnant bothered her. 
     It was ridiculous.  One night, she knew, she would wake up to find her thighs painted
     with blood and gore, and that would be the end of that.  There was no reason to worry
     about the well-being of a fetus destined to die from the pox.  Still, she resisted
     her desire for a drink.
    “There’s really nothing wrong?” Seth twisted the corkscrew. “Something feels different
     today, doesn’t it?”
    Jenny worried what he meant by that.  Those of her kind who had powerful emotional
     bonds with each other, positive or negative, could sometimes sense and be drawn to
     each other.  Alexander had become aware of Jenny’s location the night she flared up
     and killed the mob in Fallen Oak.
    Now, this strange girl had found her way to Seth...and Seth might be feeling her energy,
     too.
    “Just a regular, boring day,” Jenny said.
    “Then tell me what’s on your mind.” He started to pour her a glass of wine, then gave
     her a puzzled look when she shook her head.
    “I was just thinking about past lives,” Jenny told him.  That was one topic guaranteed
     to lose Seth’s interest right away.  He only had random fragments of past-life memories,
     and they were wicked enough that he didn’t want to learn more.  He would usually change
     the subject immediately.
    “What were you thinking about?” Seth asked. “Were we raping and pillaging our way
     across the ancient world or something?”
    “No...we weren’t really together until our last couple of lives, actually.  We were
     enemies before that.”
    “So tell me.” He leaned against the counter, sipping wine. “Tell me about our last
     life.”
    “Seriously?” Jenny hadn’t expected that.  Again, she worried he could sense the girl
     who’d been searching for him...and maybe his sudden interest in the past had more
     to do with her than with Jenny, even if he didn’t consciously realize any of it. 
    “Why not?” Seth asked. “We never talk about it.  I think I’m ready to learn about
     our past.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “You keep thinking about it, I want to hear about it.  I bet I was a cowboy, right?”
    Jenny took a deep breath. “It was the Great Depression.”
    “That figures.  We wouldn’t want to miss a time of worldwide misery, would we?” Seth
     said.  He refreshed his wine glass.
    Jenny placed a ripe tomato on the wooden cutting board.  As she sliced it, she began
     to tell him.
    “I was in the carnival,” she said. “I had a stage name, in the carnival.  Juliana
     Blight.”
    Seth spat wine as he laughed. “Were you a stripper?”
    “Do you want to hear the story or not?”
    “Oh, I’m listening.  This already sounds good.”
     

Chapter Five
     
    Juliana waited on the