The Necromancer's Betrayal (The Final Formula Series, Book 2.5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

about. He didn’t think she would, but it wasn’t a chance he could take.
    “James?” Even though she slurred the letters together, he still felt the tug on the sliver of soul she had buried within him. It seemed to do that every time she said his name.
    “Yes?”
    “I’m thirsty.”
    “Just a minute.” He glanced at the sack on the back seat and then at her slouched form. “Let me pull over.”
    He drove until he spotted a rutted lane that led to an ancient barn a hundred yards off the road. The little Ford bounced and thumped over the dips and ruts. After one particularly deep rut, Elysia sat up with a gasp and gripped the dashboard.
    “Did we wreck?” she asked.
    “No, it’s a bumpy country road.” He brought the car to a stop and reached into the back seat to retrieve his bag of goodies. He pulled out her Diet Coke, cracked it open, and handed it to her. “You got it?” he asked when she fumbled the bottle.
    “Mmm,” she answered, tipping up the bottle. A drop escaped and rolled down to her chin. She took the bottle away and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. He glimpsed her forearm in the glow of the dashboard.
    “Are you still bleeding?” he asked. He had adjusted to the scent of her blood—after driving with his window down for several miles. Even so, the smell made him edgy.
    She rotated her wrist to reveal her forearm. A drop of blood had rolled to the crease of her elbow. “Yeah,” she said. “Is that bad?”
    He grunted. Though it was down to a trickle, it should have stopped by now.
    “Grams once told me about her cousin. She tried to make a lich, and she bled to death.”
    James cocked his head. “Did she hit an artery or something?”
    “Nope. She wasn’t strong enough.” Elysia continued to stare at her arm. “I am, but two bindings in one day is a bit much.” She snorted. “Never thought I’d hear myself say that.”
    James watched a second droplet move toward her wrist. He took her Diet Coke out of her hand and twisted the cap into place before dropping it on the floorboard.
    “I was drinking that,” she complained.
    He cupped the back of her forearm, and before he could reconsider, leaned over and ran his tongue along the cut.
    Elysia yelped, but he wouldn’t let her pull away. Like earlier today, her blood burned across his tongue and down his throat, setting his body on fire. Life. How ironic that necromancers dealt in death when in truth, their power was life.
    “James.”
    The bond tightened, and without warning, she sank more of herself into him. Damn, that felt good. His own power rose in response, like to like. His vision changed and his skin tingled. He lifted his head and had to squint against the brightness of her soul.
    Her head fell back against the headrest, and she stared at him with wide white eyes. She lifted her hand to rub her fingers lightly along his jaw.
    “So warm,” she whispered.
    His blood chilled as he remembered another necromancer saying the same thing. Clarissa, Neil’s mother. Her eyes had been as white as Elysia’s. Unsettled, he began to pull away when her fingers slid across his lips.
    “You’ve got a great mouth,” she told him.
    Creeped out or not, he smiled. She might sound lucid, but she was clearly out of it.
    “Kiss me,” she whispered.
    He had a second to register his shock, and then the compulsion kicked in. He leaned in and covered her mouth with his. He should be pleased at the opportunity to make out with a pretty girl, but the necromantic compulsion took all the fun out of it.
    Elysia’s arms came up around his shoulders, and she parted her lips for him. A few brushes of her tongue and the necromancer thing wasn’t such a turn off. She groaned and one hand slid up the back of his neck into his hair. James was still riding high from her blood, his body alive in a way he had never truly felt. He wondered what she would do if he pulled her into his lap.
    “Elysia,” he said against her lips. They gasped in