Rising Read Online Free PDF Page B

whatever your legs look like, it can’t be as bad as you make them out to be. Good grief, you won’t even let a doctor see your legs.”
    “I should have never told you that.”
    “ Well, you did and you can’t take it back.”
    “I don’t need anyone’s help. I can take care of myself. Listen Gretchen, I’m really tired. I’m going to turn in early. So…”
    “Yeah, all right.” Gretchen shrugged away from the counter and stepped toward the door. “I’ll see you Tuesday. Remember, you promised to help me sew the drapes for my bedroom.”
    “I remember. Don’t worry, I’ll be there.”
    Gretchen glanced back. Disappointment showed in her smile as she slipped out the door.
    Sara sighed at the blessed silence.
    Less than an hour later, blanketed in darkness, she buried her face in her pillow and cried herself to sleep.

     

    Xanthus gripped the steering wheel of his SUV so tightly that the leather squeaked and steel bent under the pressure. His nostrils flared at the scent in the air. It was unmistakable.
    It was impossible.
    His eyes darted around the dark, decaying neighborhood. Rain battered against crumbling buildings and piled-up garbage. Across a narrow parking lot sat a small figure in a wheelchair—a woman. Another woman strolled up behind her and startled her. They wasted no time before entering the building.
    It couldn’t be. He had to be mistaken. He may have been living here five months now but he could never forget or mistake that scent. A female Dagonian’s ripe fertility saturated the air.
    What the Hades was she doing here? Did she come here on her own? Of course she did.
    A horn blasted his eardrums. He cursed when he realized he sat parked in the middle of the street. He eased his SUV next to the curb and let the car pass.
    He had to find out what this little female was doing here. Actually, her reasons were irrelevant. There was no good reason she’d be here. He turned off his engine, opened his door , and stalked into the night.
    He approached the front door. Should he simply enter the building and knock? No, the other woman was there. He didn’t want any collateral damage. The human might be innocent, even if this particular Dagonian female wasn’t.
    He circled around the darkened building and found the female’s window within minutes. Her scent blew through a gap in the old, splintered window frame. Sudden need hit him like a blow to the stomach. Her scent billowed thick in the air and it smelled different from what he’d expected. It had a sweet, earthy smell to it and it appealed to him much more powerfully than he remembered. In fact, despite his years of training, he had to make an effort to keep his attention on the task at hand.
    He approached the window and attempted to peer inside. Heavy draperies made it impossible to see in. Resigned to the fact that he could not see her at this point, he pressed himself close to the window to listen in on the conversation.
    “Sara. Listen, I know you had a really rough childhood…” The human spoke. Her voice grated the way human voices do.
    “I should have never told you that.” Xanthus almost smiled when he first heard the musical lilt of the female. His near smile turned to a scowl as he realized the effect her voice had on him. He forced himself into predator mode, analyzing the criminal, looking for weaknesses.
    Her voice rose and fell in a quiet, singsong way. The Dagonian sounded young, like a female who had just emerged into womanhood, yet she had an amazing command of the language. Xanthus listened further. She had no distinguishable accent. In fact, she spoke better than he did and he’d been studying English for years. How long had she been here?
    Xanthus heard the door shut as the human left.
    He followed the Dagonian’s appealing scent as she moved to another room. He found it wafting from another window. That window proved just as visually impenetrable as the first one. She guarded well against prying eyes.
    He