The Fire and the Veil (Veronica Barry Book 2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

she found the decor all the more off-putting. The huge bay window overlooking L Street reflected the room back to her, and if she looked at herself in it, it seemed like she was standing over the drop to the street below. She glanced away. The black leather couch looked cold and the plastic coffee table looked hard. Veronica suppressed a shiver. It’s just a bachelor pad, she thought. Of course, that made her feel worse. Bachelor pads were for bachelors, or men with swinging lifestyles, who brought women home for just one night. Was that where this was headed? And should she be okay with that? What kind of a wuss was she?
    The medium fish tank against the left wall now had a second one next to it of the same size: about thirty gallons. The original tank had six orange and white fish swimming in it. Daniel turned on the fluorescent lights in both tanks. The second tank had four similar fish in it, but instead of orange and white they were black and white. Veronica approached the tank. Some had varying amounts of yellow on their faces, and on one the black was more of a dark brown. The white spots glowed in the light.
    “They’re pretty,” she said.
    Daniel beamed. “They aren’t cheap, but Samchon Jung-Hwa gave me a family discount. I’ll probably get one or two more, eventually. You want to feed them?” He handed her a little can of pellets. She took off the lid and pinched a few, dropping them into the open part of the aquarium cover.
    “I thought you stopped by on your way to pick me up to feed them,” she said as she watched the fish gulp the pellets.
    “I did,” he said, stepping closer to her. “They’re always hungry.”
    She turned and glanced at him with a smile. “What about the orange ones? They’ll think we’re playing favorites.”
    “Sure, toss them some pellets too.”
    Veronica dropped some food in the orange clowns’ tank. They darted around, catching the pellets as they floated down to the floor. Daniel took the canister from her hand, still holding her fingers lightly as he put it away.
    She couldn’t think of anything to say. She wanted to think of something to say, though. Anything, really.
    “Hey,” he said softly. “You okay?”
    “Um, sure. Of course,” she said.
    “It’s just that you seem… nervous.”
    Veronica attempted to laugh lightly. Even in her own ears it sounded maniacal. Oh, kill me now, she thought.
    “You like me, right?” he asked. “Women don’t go out on three pity dates, do they? I mean, one I’ve heard of. But not three. This isn’t pity date number three, right?”
    For a moment Veronica still couldn’t make her voice work. Then she took the hand he’d been holding her fingers with in both of her own hands and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Daniel,” she said.
    His face fell. “…Sorry?”
    “I’m sorry! I’m such a basket case. I feel like I’m thirteen years old. I don’t know what’s the matter with me!”
    Daniel frowned in confusion. “Okay. So for a second there I thought you were going to tell me it is a pity date, or something to that effect. But I’m not seeing how being thirteen years old fits in with it.”
    Veronica closed her eyes and gave an agonized whimper.
    “Hey, it’s okay. Come over and sit for a second and try to tell me what’s wrong.”
    He guided her to the couch and they both sat down, angled so their knees touched. He held on to one of her hands.
    “What’s the matter?” he asked gently.
    “I feel like such an idiot.”
    “You’re not an idiot.”
    “God, listen to me. I sound like a thirteen year old. This is so ridiculous.”
    “Just tell me what’s going on.”
    All of her insecurities flashed through her mind: that he thought she was weak, that she was weak, that she was a silly prude, that she was stuck in the mindset of forties movies, that she was a freak with psychic powers, that he was going to figure out sooner or later that he was making a mistake seeing her, but what came out of her mouth