Read Falling for Free Online

puppy gives a single fearful yelp before the
orbs in my hands latch to its energy field. I feel an explosion of cooling
ecstasy. There is no knowledge to this, only instinct. My body greedily soaks
up the animal’s energy. The little dog trembles just as Ryan trembled earlier
this night. The glow around its body dims and wavers and then vanishes like a
candle snuffed. My mind is lost, drowned in the pleasure that is all too
quickly vanquished.
    I let the limp body fall out of my arms. There is more
energy in the room. The hunger is already kindling inside of me, growing
louder. I look up and see a boy in a ball cap. He holds a gun at his side. He
is distracted. His eyes are on the dead puppy. I suddenly know that I am faster
than him. I could leap off the bed and connect to his energy before he could
get off a shot. My muscles tense. There is another man. He has a gun too. He is
not distracted. Tarren is his name. And the other one is Gabe. I am hit by the
realization of just how much I want to kill them and how little I care about
the bullet I would earn for the attempt. What would Ryan think of me? Vanilla.
    “The cuffs,” I moan. “Now, nownownow.” I put my arms behind
my back, try to close up my hands. The skin is stubborn, peeling back again as
soon as Tarren steps behind me.
    “She’s got it,” Gabe says under his breath even as he lifts
his gun. “She’s got it. She’s got it.”
    Tarren’s fingers are deft. A new set of ties whips around my
torn wrists, and he pulls them tight into the wounds. He backs away, and Gabe
lets out a heavy huff of breath. I fall back against the bed, moaning as the
need rises and breaks over me. The animal inside me is so much stronger than my
fragile self. It lashes out, and I strain against the cuffs, groaning and
writhing on the bed.
    The two brothers watch me in silence. Eventually—and it
probably isn’t so long, really—I am lying on my side panting. The sheets are
twisted and smeared with blood from the oozing wounds on my wrists.
    “It’ll get easier,” Gabe says as I tumble into an exhausted
sleep.
     

Chapter 9
    The nearness of energy breaks my sleep and sets my heart
beating hard.
    A face peers into mine, and for a blissful moment I don’t
recognize it. I wonder at the strange glow around his features, about the swell
of haunting music in my head and why my hands seem to be splitting open without
any conscious effort. Then I remember.
    “Hey,” Gabe says, “I know you’re tired, but I want to show
you something.”
    His voice is too loud, even though he’s whispering. Strange
smells cloud the room, and something is buzzing loud as a swarm of bees. I look
over to the table and realize it’s just the hum of a laptop.
    I try to rub my eyes and instead send flares of pain through
my wrists as I tug against the cuffs. Gabe pulls the blanket off of my
shoulders and helps me stand up, one hand under my elbow, the other against my
back.
    “How you feeling?”
    I think about the question, and then I stop thinking. “I
need the bathroom.”
    “Ha,” he replies, “not going to be easy with those
handcuffs.”
    “Then take them off.”
    Tarren is not in the room. The hunger is. I am aware of
Gabe’s fingers on my bare skin; the pulse of his energy in the space between
us.
    Gabe hesitates. He looks tired and too young for the things
in his eyes. I search for a resemblance, something in his face that might be
mine as well. Not that I believe him.
    Gabe is a head taller than me and thin as a coat rack. His
long limbs are trapped in a baggy t-shirt and worn jeans. His hair, the same
golden-brown color of his eyes, is still managed by the backwards hat and
spills out thick and wavy to his ears.
    We stare at each other. He smiles like he can’t help it.
    “What?” I ask.
    “I don’t know, it’s just…it’s you.” Gabe laughs and shakes
his head. “It’s you,” he repeats as if this will clear things right up. His
laugh is warm and inviting, somehow