Smoke and Ashes Read Online Free PDF

police had a very distinctive knock.
    Might be Conner, that friend of Everett’s he’d met while visiting the makeup artist in the hospital. They’d gone for coffee but hadn’t been able to hook up since—Conner worked in the props shop at one of the other Burnaby studios, and his hours were as insane as Tony’s. Maybe their schedules had finally matched up.
    Of course, Conner’d have no way of knowing that.
    Unless Everett had told him.
    Hell, if he was going to imagine hot guys, why not drop all the way into fairy-tale land and assume it was Lee, no longer conflicted and unable to deny the blistering passion between them? Okay, for passion substitute a couple of possessed kisses—but they’d been pretty damned hot.
    Another knock.
    Of course, I could just get off my ass, walk a few meters, and find out. Dropping the spray cheese down in a pile of blankets by the jerky, Tony headed for the door.
    There was a spell on the laptop called “Spy Hole” that allowed the wizard to see through solid objects. The first time Tony’d tried it, he’d given it a little too much juice and gotten way too good a look at Mr. Chansky across the hall in apartment eleven. Talk about being scared straight. The experience had convinced him that sometimes the old ways were the best. Leaning forward, he peered through the security peephole.
    Leah Burnett.
    And the translucent overlay of the big guy with antlers.
    She grinned up at the lens and lifted a bag of Chinese food into Tony’s field of vision.
    All right. She had his attention.
    Stepping back, he opened the door.
    â€œHey.” She waved the bag. “I thought we should talk.”
    â€œAll three of us?”
    â€œThree? If you have company…”
    â€œNo.” He just moved enough to stay solidly in her line of sight, blocking her view of the apartment. “You, me, and the guy sharing your space.”
    Dark eyes widened. “Guy?”
    â€œBig guy.” He held his hand about half a meter over her head.
    â€œReally? What does this guy look like?”
    â€œHard to say, he’s a little fuzzy. Got a rack on him like Bambi’s dad, though.”
    â€œAnd you can see him right now?”
    â€œNot right now. He kind of comes and goes.”
    â€œUh-huh.” A quick glance up and down the hall. “Maybe we should discuss this inside.”
    â€œGot something to hide?”
    â€œJust trying to keep you out of trouble with your neighbors.”
    That seemed fair. Besides, there were precautions in place in case he was actually in any danger from her. Them. Although, given the Chinese food and all, he doubted it. Opening the door all the way, Tony tucked himself up against the wall and beckoned the stuntwoman in.
    The glyphs painted across the threshold were supposed to flare red and create an impenetrable barrier if danger approached—it had taken days of fine-tuning to stop them from going off for the pizza girl, Mr. Chansky, and the elderly cat who lived at the end of the hall. As Leah stepped into the apartment, they flared white, then orange, then green, then a couple of colors Tony suspected the human eye shouldn’t actually be able to see. The pattern slammed out to fill the doorway, turned gray, and fluttered to the floor.
    Leah brushed at the shoulder of her jacket, the pale ash smearing across the damp fabric. “Sorry about that.” Her nose wrinkled as the smell of burned cherries momentarily overwhelmed the smell of the Chinese food. “What did you paint those on with, cherry cough syrup?”
    â€œYeah.” When she stared up at him in astonishment, he shrugged. Carefully. His head felt like he’d just been hit repeatedly with a rubber mallet. “Cherry was the only flavor that worked. And,” he added, hoping he sounded like he believed it was possible, “I will fireball your ass if you try anything.”
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