Lila Shortcuts Read Online Free PDF

do this—’
    Suddenly he leans over the counter, reaches his hand around the back of my neck and pulls me towards him, and before I can take a breath his lips are on mine and he’s kissing me and wow . . . every thought in my head evaporates, every single cell in my body zings with electricity.
    When Ryder eventually pulls away, his hand still rests on the back of my neck. I am breathless and my whole body is vibrating. We’re still nose to nose, his breath warm on my face, his lips just an inch away and my stomach is fluttering wildly.
    Ryder’s breathing hard and fast, his focus still on my lips. Then he pulls back an inch. ‘Bye, Amber,’ he says, and sadness falls over him like a shroud.
    In that same instant I realise what he’s about to do and wrench myself backwards out of his grip.
    He came here to make me forget.

Chapter Eight
    ‘What are you doing?!’ I yell, pressing myself back against the wall, still shaking.
    He frowns at me. ‘It’s better this way. If you can’t remember anything then you’ll be safer.’
    ‘What? No. You can’t come in here and tell me all this and kiss me—’ I gesture in the direction of his lips. ‘And then make me forget it all.’
    ‘It’s to protect you,’ he answers, grim-faced.
    ‘From what?’
    ‘It’s better that you don’t remember anything about this conversation. Or me. Or anything I’ve told you about Demos. Trust me. It’s for your own good. You don’t want to get involved in any of this. If he finds out what you are . . . well . . .’ He grimaces some more, ‘. . . then you’re in trouble.’
    The sound of a footstep, echoing through the store, makes us both spin around. My heart flies into my mouth. Standing in the middle of the store, as though he just apparated there, is Demos. Behind him is the other guy – his goon.
    ‘I guess,’ Demos says, surveying us both with a cold smile, you’re in trouble then.’
    I turn to Ryder but he’s not moving. He’s not moving or saying anything because he’s completely frozen – one arm outstretched as though he’d flung it there to shield me, his lips half-parted.
    ‘Wh—’ I begin, but immediately my mind goes blank. I feel a drag, a pull, and my feet are moving all of a sudden, without any conscious thought on my part. My instinct is to struggle but I don’t. I feel unnaturally calm. Relaxed, even. And in the next instant I find myself standing right in front of Demos, staring up at him, noticing small details like the flecks of stubble on his neck and the scar across his chin, and the curve of a smile lifting his top lip. But I don’t feel fear or much of anything at all – I’m completely empty of emotion. But how can he do this? I start to ponder. How can he do any of this? The thought is foggy though and slips away as soon as it surfaces.
    ‘Amber,’ Demos says, and instantly the fog clears. I try to run but I can’t move. My limbs won’t respond to what my brain is telling them. He isn’t touching me but it feels as if I’m being held in an invisible vise. And now fear rushes in, obliterating every other thought and every impulse. If he wasn’t holding me I would fall.
    ‘It took me a while to figure out it was you back at the burger place,’ he says. ‘I thought it was Ryder.’ He smiles and shakes his head in wonder.
    ‘What do you want?’ I manage to stutter.
    ‘I want you to join my group of Psys,’ he says.
    ‘Psys?’ What is he talking about?
    ‘That’s what they call us.’
    ‘They? Who are they?’
    A muscle twitches by his eye, his grip on me tightens, iron hands squeeze around my waist. Anger beats off him, slams like a jackhammer against my skull. ‘Oh, you’ll find out,’ he says through a clenched jaw.
    I try digging my heels in but to no avail and then I try gathering up all my energy and directing at him. I hurl all the terror I’m feeling back at him, throwing it like a punch, and his grip on me falters. I’m suddenly free. I stagger