Slow Burn Read Online Free PDF Page A

to his.
    She sniffled.
    Then he gasped. “She’s…” He dropped his hand and took a step
back. “Not like us.”
    “No.” She sobbed. “I’m not. But I’m harmless. I swear it!”
Tears streaked down her face, smearing the corpse paint.
    “Ha!” Jacob, the drummer, leaned back against the leather
couch. Red hair hung in rivulets down his shoulders and made him look even
paler in comparison to Sonja. He stroked his long pointed goatee and narrowed
his bright blue eyes at her. “Ye’re no’ harmless, lass, but ye doona’ mean us
any harm.”
    Sonja remembered his expression. His concern had washed over
her.
    He ran a hand through his hair and looked down at the floor,
then back to her. “We’re in this together, lass. Aye?”
    She nodded. “If you’re all good with this. I’m—”
    “It doesn’t matter.” Rob held up two fingers. “I think we
had better take the night off and regroup.”
    Dez shuddered. He picked up a nearby guitar and started
strumming it. He had to move strands of thick blond hair from his face to see
the chords. When he did, he looked up from his guitar and stared at her.
Kindness emanated from the depths of his deep purple irises. “That’s it then.
We’re just good with this, Sonja. Help us help you.”
    They had done that. Sonja remembered being driven home and
deposited into bed. The next morning, Rob found her and sat her down to tell
her the entire story about their past.
    She looked at Rob now, saw the love in his eyes, and hoped
she could learn to better control her powers. “There’s so much going on in the
world now, so much pain and misery.”
    Rob nodded. “I know, sis. It’s not all your burden to fix,
okay? We’re gifted by the goddess and god to do as our destiny warrants. But
your path is no longer clear.” He closed his eyes, and inhaled and exhaled
slowly. “The puma—”
    She arched a brow. “Derrick?”
    “Yes.” His lips pursed together in a line. “…has now become
intertwined in your destiny. I fear a bad moon rising soon.”
    The burning in her stomach told her he was right.
    She’d felt this way for some time. Groups such as the
Anti-Shifter League wanted to control her in hopes of using her voice to
eradicate the shifter menace. Terrorist groups from the Middle East and the
Eastern Bloc wanted her for their own nefarious agendas.
    She’d have to deal with the curse of being a witch. The fact
that not just humans sought her power made things worse. Shifters could be just
as greedy.
    Rob's eyes averted hers.
    “You didn’t meet him in school, did you?”
    Rob stiffened visibly.
    “I thought not. What’s his game, brother mine?”
    Looking away, Rob shoved his hands into his pockets and
paced back and forth. “He’s harmless to us. No, I didn’t meet him in school.”
    She took her brother’s hand and met his gaze. “Which side is
Derrick on?”
    He opened his eyes, looking over her and away. “He’s a
regular in here, but his local haunt is on the other side of town. I think you
should go see for yourself.” Rob retrieved a card from his shirt pocket and
handed it to his sister. “He’ll be at this location later in the afternoon. The
band isn’t booked for another show until a few days from now and we can put you
on a plane for that.”
    She took the card and her eyes went wide. “He’s not quite
the typical death metal fan is he?”
    Rob gave her a lopsided grin and dropped his hands into his
pockets. “You have no idea, sis.”
     
    * * *
     
    Derrick picked up his sunglasses and slid them on. He
reached for the trench coat hanging on the hook only to find it missing.
    “Shit.” Sonja’s dressing room. He’d been so mesmerized by
her innocent pout and luscious body curled up against the couch side that he
decided to stretch her out, carefully lay a blanket over her, then leave,
forgetting that his trench coat was draped over the back of the couch.
    An hour later, Derrick sat with a cigar between his fingers,
reclining