Queen of the Dead Read Online Free PDF

scrambled out and onto the ground. It was darker than when we’d gone into the house, but I could see them both clearly. They hadn’t gotten far, just a few feet from the window. I stalked toward them.
    The girl was adjusting her bag on her shoulder when I might have accidentally bumped into her. Hard.
    She stumbled forward, almost toppling face-first to the ground under the weight of everything.
    “Oh, sorry,” I said sweetly. “Didn’t see you there.” Ghost-talker or not, you do not mess with me. That is rule one. My dad, who is an excellent corporate negotiator, alwayssays that if you let people walk over you once, they’ll turn you into their favorite footpath. Or something vaguely fortune cookie–esque like that.
    She recovered her balance and straightened up, shifting her bag back into position. “I don’t have time for this,” she said with an irritated sigh. She turned to face me with something small, silver, and shiny in her hand. It looked like a flashlight, but it wasn’t on.
    “No!” Will shouted.
    “What is that?” I demanded. “What is she doing?”
    “Not now, Alona,” Will said tightly. He moved to stand between us. “Let’s just focus on getting out of here, okay?” he said to the girl. Behind us, the sounds of heavy footsteps and men shouting inside came through clearly even with the windows boarded up. The police were in the house now.
    Her gaze darted toward the house and then back to me. “Whatever,” she said. “I’m gone.”
    “Wait.” Will started after her. “I still don’t know your name.”
    Oh, please.
    She whirled around. “Look, playtime is over,” she snapped. “This was my third chance at a containment. And you screwed it up. Get it?”
    “No,” he said, sounding baffled.
    “Let her go,” I said. “We don’t need her.” Seriously, she was a little shorter than me and not nearly as attractive. And yes, I’m qualified to judge. It’s always important to know how you rank against other females in the immediate vicinity. Know your competition. Not that she was. Competition, I mean. I suppose she did have a bit of an exotic appeal with all of that hair, and her eyes might have been pretty if I could have gotten a better look to judge, but aside from that? Nothing. Well, the ghost-talker thing, I guess.
    She laughed. “Princess, you have no idea what you need.” Why did that sound like a threat?
    I tried to move around Will to get at her, but he threw up an arm to stop me, and I didn’t want to hurt him further.
    “Have a nice life, Casper lover,” she said to Will. “Stay out of mine.” Then she took off at a quick jog, all of her equipment rattling as she went.
    Will took a step after her.
    “Oh, no.” I snagged his sleeve. “Car is that way.” I pointed in the opposite direction of the girl.
    He didn’t respond, and for a second, I thought he might shake me off and chase her anyway.
    Seriously? I felt a tiny squeeze of panic, for the first time in a long while. Would he really do that? Ditch me, Alona Dare, for her, some random girl who just happened to be a ghost-talker?
    Oh, I don’t think so.
    Yes, I could make it out of here on my own just fine, but that wasn’t the point. We were in this together. Period. End of story.
    “Hey.” I snapped my fingers in front of his face. “Wake up. We need to go.”
    Finally, he nodded and we started hurrying in the direction of the car. Thank God.
    But that didn’t stop him from looking back after her every ten seconds, or me from noticing it.
    Crap. This would have to be addressed.

“O w!” I jerked out of Alona’s grasp and away from the tweezers she wielded with maybe just a little too much enthusiasm. “Are you trying to make it worse?”
    “You have, like, half the bedroom floor back here,” she said with no sympathy. “Besides, even if I was, you’d deserve it,” she said.
    She’d been beyond cranky with me since we’d left the Gibley Mansion grounds, and admittedly, she might be