Touch Read Online Free PDF Page B

brother was unlikely
     to cause
too
much embarrassment.
    Chase followed, looking at the staircase the same way he looked at the rest of the
     house: as if it were alien, and hostile at that. She didn’t know a lot about Chase.
     Except that he made her angry and that he’d saved her life.
    She headed straight for her desk when she reached her room and counted her pens. “I
     don’t really need a brother, do I?”
    Chase laughed. “What did he do?”
    “He seems to think that he’s working in an office, and stealing office supplies is
     a perk. This,” she added, pointing to the penholder, “would be the office supply depot.”
    “He’s younger?”
    “Yes, or he’d already be dead.”
    “None of you seem to use pens much.”
    “It’s the principle.”
    He laughed again. He had an easy, friendly laugh. Hearing it, it was hard to imagine
     that he’d killed people. But she didn’t have to imagine it; she’d seen it. She took
     her tablet out of her backpack and plunked it on the desk, plugging it in before she
     opened it. “Biology and English. You’ll actually get these? I notice you didn’t bring
     your computer with you.”
    “I’ll get them. I don’t have much study time in the queue tonight.” And there it was
     again: the edge, the harshness.
    Wouldn’t you be harsh? If your entire life was devoted to killing mass murderers,
     wouldn’t you?
But . . . he’d come to kill Emma, and Emma was not a mass murderer. And maybe he
     was staying to find proof that she would never become one. That was the optimistic
     way of looking at it. The pragmatic version was different: He was staying until she
     did, at which point he’d kill her.
    Which meant he’d be here a long time.
    She turned around; Chase was standing in the middle of the room, staring at the walls.
     The walls in Allison’s room were not bare. She had posters, pictures, and one antique
     map, which had been a gift from her much-loved grandfather, covering everything that
     wasn’t blocked by furniture. Even her closet door was covered; the one mirror in the
     room was on the inside of the door.
    “This is a scary room,” Chase finally said, staring pointedly at the
Hunger Games
poster to one side of the curtained window.
    “Scary how?”
    “If that bookshelf falls over, it’ll kill you in your sleep. Who thought it was a
     good idea to bolt it into the wall
above
your head?”
    She raised a hand.
    “Have you read all of these?”
    “Yes. Multiple times. I don’t keep everything, just the ones I know I’ll reread. My
     brother knows better than to touch my books,” she added, as he reached for the shelf.
    He grinned. “I’m not your brother.”
    “No. You’re a guest, so you get to keep your hand.” She smiled as she said it, but
     he wasn’t looking at her; he was looking at
Beauty
.
    “So . . . you come home, you do homework, and you read a lot.”
    “Mostly.” Her phone rang. She fished it—quickly—out of her bag because she recognized
     the ringtone. It was Emma. Or someone who had stolen Emma’s phone.
    * * *
    “Hey, Ally—are you doing anything after dinner?”
    “Studying a bit.”
    “Want to come walk a deaf dog with me?”
    “Not a random deaf dog, no—but I’ll come for Petal.”
    Emma laughed. “He’s the only one I have. Is something wrong?”
    “No. Nothing. Want to come pick me up or should I meet you at your place?”
    “I’ll head over there. Mom’s not home, so I’ll make something to eat here.” She paused.
     “I have something to tell you. It’s not a bad thing,” she added quickly, because she
     knew Allison came from a long line of champion worriers. Petal started to bark in
     the background. When Petal set up barking, it never stayed in the background.
    “I’ll talk to you later,” Allison said.
    Chase was apparently still perusing her bookshelves, but Allison wasn’t fooled. “That
     was Emma?”
    She almost didn’t answer.
Chase saved your life, but he also