The Graves of Saints Read Online Free PDF Page A

released her, staggering back a step, and she was on him. She stripped off his hat and his flesh began to smoke
and ignite. Snarling, she tore at his clothes, ripping the long black jacket off of him and then the shirt beneath. In seconds his whole upper body began to char and burn and he ran toward the
front door of the corner grocery to get out of the sun.
    ‘What the fuck did you think was going to happen?’ she screamed at him. ‘Did Cortez pick the stupidest assholes he could find?’
    The other male plowed into her from behind, lifting her off the ground and carrying her into the plate glass front window of the grocery. The glass shattered, raining huge shards onto the floor
as they careened off of a checkout counter and knocked over a candy rack. As Charlotte scrambled to her feet, the vamp grabbed her ankle. His eyes burned red as his claws dug into her, down to the
bone.
    She picked up the cash register and brought it down on his skull with all her strength. The wet crunch satisfied a deep gnawing hatred inside her, but already he was turning to mist, so she
leaped over the fallen candy rack and raced for the shattered window. The half-naked, scorched vamp tried to catch her before she reached it, but she hurled herself out onto the sidewalk and he
skidded to a halt, not wanting to burn again.
    It had all taken only seconds. Outside the grocery, Annabel strode across 2nd Avenue toward her. Charlotte turned south and began to sprint, but Annabel bolted after her on a course to
intercept. Running, the human world seemed to slow down around her, but even so the taxicab seemed to come out of nowhere. It shot out of 48th Street and struck Annabel, dragging her under even as
it screeched to a halt.
    The driver’s door flew open and a handsome, dreadlocked black guy stepped out. ‘Get in, girl. She won’t be down but a second.’
    Charlotte’s eyes went wide. The cabbie had hit Annabel on purpose. He must’ve seen it all unfolding, realized that it was vampires who were after her. He thought he’d be her
knight in shining armor, help her make her getaway. The fool.
    She didn’t even have time to shout a warning to him before he was dragged screaming under the taxi.
    But he’d bought her a few seconds’ head start, and Charlotte wasn’t going to waste it. All she needed was two blocks, and she’d be damned if she’d let them catch up
to her again. She took off running, swerving into the street to get around a cluster of gawkers trying to see who was screaming. Her wool coat flew behind her, bits of broken glass shedding from
it, tinkling as they struck the ground. Even with all the noise of the city around her, the scuff of her boots on the asphalt seemed loud in her ears.
    Crossing 47th Street, she wondered how long the toxin lasted. She didn’t like shifting much; it made her feel less human. But frozen in one form by Medusa, it felt like someone had put
shackles on her.
    A delivery man came out from behind a parked truck with a loaded dolly, and she barely avoided another collision.
Focus
! she thought. Another fall, and she might not be as lucky as
she’d been the first time. Legs pumping, hair flying, she increased her already impossible speed, and in moments she saw 46th Street ahead.
    ‘Stop there, bitch!’ Annabel shouted after her. ‘You speak, you die!’
    Charlotte wanted to laugh as she turned the corner and spotted the gated entry to the Registry diagonally across 46th. They were already trying to kill her. It was too late for threats.
    The wind blew. She could smell the East River not far off. The Registry had a broad façade of thick glass and guards at the heavy double doors. A garage entrance had a guard posted as
well, with a thick metal wall that jutted from the ground, blocking the way in. She’d seen such things once on a class trip to Washington DC, but never since. But she didn’t have a car.
It was the front door for her, or right through the glass wall if that’s