Read Fallen Angel: Mythic Series, Book 2 for Free Online

filled for a while. “But not tonight.”
    Knowing Karthik, not for a couple of days at least.
    * * *
    D avid woke up in his bed, still in the clothes he’d worn the night before. He ran his hand down his face, feeling just slightly worse for wear. What the hell?  He didn’t remember leaving the bar, or driving home. The last thing he remembered was talking to Ryssa in that freak wannabe bar. There had been a flash, and then ... nothing.
    Someone must have slipped him something without him knowing. He wouldn’t be surprised, given what he’d seen, heard, and smelled in the short time he’d been there. It was like some kind of twisted Goth costume party, with half the patrons dressed like extras in a bad B movie horror flick and the other half, a low-budget skin flick. Hell, for all he knew, they might have actually been filming a porno there, given some of the things he’d seen (or thought he’d seen) in the shadowy corners. A haze of smoke had hung in the air, weed and incense and fire, adding to the scents of leather and copper and God knew what else.
    What did surprise him was that Ryssa worked there. It had taken a lot of cash to track her down, but it was money well-spent. He never would have thought the scruffy urchin would have been a closet Goth.
    She’d looked so different, he barely recognized her. Instead of the shabby jeans and freshly scrubbed face, she’d been in some kind of kinky bondage get-up, all black leather and chains. Ratty sneakers had been replaced with sky-high stilettos that hurt like hell when she’d stepped on his toes. Her big gray eyes had been lined with charcoal, her lips stained a dark, bloody red. Instead of the loose ponytail she’d sported, her jet black hair hung to her waist in straight spikes striped with red, with studded cuffs around her wrists, ankles and neck.
    He still wasn’t sure how he felt about that. Part of him wanted to be disgusted, but another part found it disturbingly provocative. Since he had more important things to consider – and because he just didn’t want to look at that part of himself too closely – he shoved his personal feelings aside and moved on.
    Yes, remaining objective was crucial, no matter what kind of primal urges tried to bubble up within his civilized, educated self.
    He hadn’t thought much of her when she’d shown up on his doorstep that first night, but now he realized she’d put an effort into cleaning herself up to be somewhat presentable. He had to give her props for that, at least. Then again, if she had shown up looking as she had last night, he would never have let her in the door. She probably knew that. Any good scam artist knew the importance of first impressions.
    David almost chuckled at that. The first impression she’d made on him hadn’t exactly been a good one. That didn’t make her a very good con artist.
    Or did it?  He was still thinking about her, wasn’t he?  Picturing those big eyes, looking up at him. Angry, then pretending to be afraid. She had been pretending, hadn’t she?  It was all part of the act, right? 
    Last night it had seemed real enough, but now he wasn’t so sure. Of course, maybe she was just worried about losing her job. Maybe the big, dark guy with the red contacts didn’t like her socializing on the clock.
    Yeah, he told himself, ignoring the prickling at the back of his neck, that’s probably all it was.
    Yet as the morning wore on, David’s unease grew. There was something not quite right about the way Ryssa reacted when that tall guy in black came over. That guy was more than a hands-on floor manager or a pissed-off employer. David couldn’t put his finger on it, exactly, but the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that Ryssa’s fear had been genuine.
    But why?  The guy had mentioned a cover charge, and Ryssa said she’d take care of it, but no one said anything about a cover at the door. The big bouncer – the one who’d refused him entrance until he