Nobody's Angel Read Online Free PDF Page A

between them. “Don’t you know there are some things you can’t push?”
    “You say this when you have me trapped?” Far from cowed, she decided turnabout was fair play. She leaned forward just enough to invade his space, while nearly head-butting him in the chin. “I think you’re the one who needs to learn that lesson.”
    “Now, now. No need to get feisty.” He was smart enough to inch back, but the fierce delight in his half-smile told her he was more than up to any challenge she was insane enough to throw out. “I’m just trying to offer some friendly advice.”
    “What? To not be too pushy?”
    “Some people might see pushiness as an unflattering trait.”
    “I’m not worried. I have other traits that make up for it.”
    The light in his eyes turned scorching hot. “I’m sure you do.”
    “Besides, who gives a damn what people think? I’ve never let that slow me down.”
    “Why am I not surprised?” The powerful fingers holding hers softened, and his thumb caressed a path over her knuckles as if captivated by the texture of her skin. Then, with the faintest pressure, he held down the power button until the screen went blank. “Let me put it another way. Your investigative instincts could land you in a place you can’t get out of.”
    Her brows arched. “That’s not a threat, is it?”
    “It’s a statement of fact. If you’re planning on an exposé focusing on strangely lit eyes and the occult, you’re going to come off sounding...Well.” He grimaced in an almost apologetic way. “Like a candidate for the funny farm.”
    The unexpected jab hurt. “Is that what I sound like to you?”
    Again he brushed a caressing thumb over her knuckles, a bittersweet gesture that somehow condescended. “You sound like someone who’s struggling with the trauma she’s experienced.”
    “I’ve experienced two traumatic events, and the only thing I’m currently having trouble with is you ,” she shot back, stung. “I know what I saw, and I know you meant something specific when you questioned me. This isn’t a flight from reality.”
    “If it’s not a flight from reality,” he said with great gentleness, and it was that very tone that made her want to wince, “then what is it you’re looking for?”
    “I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.” With an angry flick of her wrist, Kendall dislodged his hand. “I need to understand what happened to my friend, just as I need to understand why I was attacked by a man who had that same white veil in his eyes that Dave had—the same veiling that you seemed so interested in. Now, are you going to be honest with me about how you knew to ask what color that veiling was, or are you going to keep making me feel like there’s something wrong with me?”
    Something flickered across his rugged face before he stepped away. “If you were attacked by someone with a veil across his eyes, I’d say you’d be stupid to dig into it any further. You got out alive—twice. Be happy with that and go on with your normal, human life.” With that, he packed up the refuse of their breakfast and let himself out.
    Kendall stared after him, mind churning. Maybe he was right. Maybe she should simply drop the madness of the night before and pray it never happened again. But Dave had been her friend, the only real friend she’d made since moving to San Francisco.
    Even more than that, though, there was the quiet, awful fear that now ran through her like a slow-killing poison. Every instinct she possessed told her that the thing that had ended Dave’s life had also attacked her with the single-minded intent of ending hers. She didn’t know how it was possible she was targeted, or why, or even what it was that had her in its sights. None of it made sense, and that was the problem. As long as she didn’t understand what was happening, she was condemned to live in abject fear.
    Would it attack again? Whatever “it” was?
    Her ruined throat worked on a convulsive