Vindicated Read Online Free PDF Page A

Sal.”
    The knot in my stomach wouldn’t release as I closed her door behind me and started back home.   I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder.
     
    X
     
    Blackness wrapped around me like the coldest blanket that ever existed.   I groped around me, searching for a surface to orient myself, but there was nothing.   Wherever I was, it felt empty and void of anything.
    Jessica, a voice whispered through the dark.
    I whipped my head around, my eyes searching wildly for the source of the voice.
    Jessica.
    “Who’s there?” I demanded.  
    They’re watching you.
    That time the voice was unmistakable.  
    “Cole?”
    They know something’s wrong.   Four times now they should have had you before them and yet they haven’t.
    “What are you talking about?”   My heart was hammering in my chest.   My eyes searched wildly through the dark, seeking Cole’s familiar face.
    Don’t let them see for themselves what has happened to you, Cole’s butter smooth voice said through the dark.   I suddenly sensed a presence next to me in the dark.   It is the only advantage you have against them to save him.
    “To save Alex?” I repeated quietly.
    You must be more careful.   They will try to take everything from you.
    “What am I supposed to do?” I asked, panic rising in my throat, threatening to claw me from the inside out.   “How do I stop them from taking Alex?”
    The air suddenly seemed to be shifting, growing warmer by the second.   The ground beneath me started to vibrate.
    “Cole?” I said, my voice panicked.   “How do I stop them?!”
    They are watching you.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER FIVE
     
    “Cole!” I gasped, sitting straight up in my bed.
    “Whoa!” Alex jumped next to me in the bed.   “Jessica, it’s just me.   Cole’s gone, remember?”
    I placed a hand over my eyes, trying to catch my breath.   My heart was still racing.   I forced my breathing to slow.
    “You want to talk about it?” Alex asked, placing a hand on my arm.
    I let my hand drop to my lap, blinking my eyes hard to try and clear the sleep from my head.   “No,” I lied.   I shook my head.   “It was just…”
    “A nightmare,” he said quietly.   “It’s okay.   You’ve seen enough in your life to still have them every once in a while.”
    “Sorry,” I whispered, resting my chin on my shoulder, not quite looking him in the eye.   For some reason I didn’t want to tell Alex what I had just dreamt about.
    “Don’t apologize,” he said as he leaned forward and kissed my forehead.
    I gave him a sheepish smile, slumping back against my pillow.   “Still no traces of your mom?”
    Alex shook his head, his lips tightening.   “No, and I looked everywhere I could think yesterday.   She doesn’t seem to want to be found.”
    The house felt oddly silent as I extended my senses.   I then remembered that Amber was gone.   “So…” I dragged out the word.   “We have the house to ourselves again?”
    A crooked smile worked its way onto Alex’s face as he looked down at me.   He shifted his body on top of mine, his lips greeting mine.   I traced my hands down his back, enjoying every rise and fall of his frame, my fingers brushing against his raised scars.
    One of Alex’s hands slipped behind my back, nearly lifting me off the bed as he pulled me closer to him.   His lips trailed down to my throat, his other hand working its way down my stomach, and then slipping down my thigh.
    “Three weeks and you’re mine ,” he said in a rough voice against my skin.
    “I’m yours already,” I sighed, my eyes closed.
    “ All mine,” he said quietly as his lips moved further down my chest.
    “Hey, now,” I said as I fought everything my body was telling me.   “We’ve made it this long.   Let’s not blow this streak just weeks from the big day.”
    Alex let out a growl, pressing his lips one more time to the skin at the edge of the neckline of my tank top.   “ Soon ,” he