The Agrista (Between the Lines Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

the creature’s wings the most hauntingly beautiful glow, making it appear angelic.
      She assessed its temperament as she stared into its ancient eyes, burning with intensity. Those same silver eyes that Marie saw on the other side of her bedroom window just last night, and hadn’t been able to get out of her head since.
      She stood trembling, unable to pry her gaze from the magnificent beast that stood before her. The creature stood perfectly still, mirroring Marie’s fascination. It waited a few moments before taking a careful step toward her and ripping a scream from her lungs.
      “Marie!” Amelia burst through the doorway and rushed to her side. “Are you alright?”
      Marie stood achingly still, fear and shock rendering her speechless. Amelia’s face immediately relaxed into an irritated scowl. Marie always acted strange after visiting her mother, though she seemed to be acting exceptionally peculiar these past few days.
      In moments such as these, Amelia couldn’t help but wonder if Marie would eventually end up in Syracuse Smiles right alongside her mother, Melissa. Feeling somewhat guilty for having the thought, she buried it in the back of her mind and turned her attention to the situation at hand.
      “Marie,” Amelia’s voice quickly shifted from panicked to infuriated. “You left the damn door open and screamed like you were being murdered! What the hell! Marie? Marie!” Amelia grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her, hard. Once she realized she couldn’t break Marie’s trance, she turned to see what she was looking at. “You’re probably freaking out over nothing, as usual.”
      Amelia stood a mere few inches from the creature as she examined the area surrounding them. She looked in and behind surrounding bushes, looped around trees and kicked away dead brush, searching everywhere nearby until she was satisfied.
      “Marie, there’s absolutely nothing out here. Why are you freaking out?” She stood with her hands on her hips, so close to the creature that they were practically touching.
      How can she not see it? Marie looked back and forth between the two, utterly baffled. “I s-saw a s-s-snake! It s-startled me. I g-guess it s-slithered away? I’m okay now. S-sorry.” She slowly blinked several times, willing the creature to disappear every time she reopened her eyes.
      “Honestly, Marie! Perhaps you shouldn’t stargaze until you can manage to not freak out over every little thing that goes bump in the night!” She puffed out her flaming red cheeks and stormed off, muttering angrily to herself. “I have to study!”
      The swift slam of the door brought Marie back to her senses, however unreliable they might be. She turned her attention back to the creature that so casually resided in her backyard. It was the perfect picture of innocence as it curiously stared back at her.
      She squeezed her eyes shut, seeing stars beneath her lids as the pressure of pins and needles expanded in her sockets. Her breaths came fast and shallow.
      “Oh my god! I really am crazy!”
      “You’re not crazy,” a soft voice whispered.
      “...said the voice in my head.”
      “Open your eyes.”
      Marie slowly opened her eyes. The creature was nowhere in sight, and a man stood before her now. The man was just as magnificent as the beast had been. She opened her mouth to scream again, but only a raspy whimper escaped her lips.
      “Please don’t scream again! She can see me now,” he pleaded with her .
      The man took a step forward into the thick ribbon of moonlight that wove through the hills, making himself more visible. He was beautiful. Chin-length, silky black hair fell in waves around his sharp, angular face, occasionally brushing over exotic eyes that consisted of several blues swirled together with a silver starburst spiking out around his pupils. Eyes like that could hypnotize. Eyes like that could bring a woman to ruin.
      Bronzed skin, flawless as marble