Read Lover's Kiss for Free Online

her up. That meant she needed to do something else. But what? There were no doors on the buildings. A few windows, but those were twenty feet up on the fire escape. She could reach it on her own, but not carrying another person.
    That left one option. She had to hide the cause of death. An autopsy would reveal the woman had been drained dry, but would anyone spend the money finding cause of death on a homeless drug addict? She probably had a record for theft and prostitution, on top of drug charges. Beth nodded. The cops wouldn't think twice about her. They probably figured it was just a matter of time until her body showed up.
    So how could she hide the wound and keep people from wondering what happened? Two small holes, near each other but not close enough. Beth frowned. She was immortal, damn it! Why should a stupid problem like this slow her down?
    Beth tilted her head and smiled. It was vicious and gruesome, but it would hide the wound. She lifted her hand and stared at it, willing her fingernails to lengthen and grow stronger. She twisted her hand, admiring the sharp points, and then had them darken to black, the same as she'd seen Penny's at one time. She grinned. It was a good look on her.
    Beth grabbed the dead girl's greasy hair and lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her other hand around her throat and then pushed her razor edged nails into the pliant flesh. She twisted and sawed, tearing the flesh until she'd reduced the corpse's throat to ribbons of near bloodless flesh. She crushed her spine and severed the ligaments and muscles holding it together, letting the body fall to a heap.
    Beth lifted the head and stared into the unseeing eyes. She tilted her head and then giggled. Stupid druggy. She tossed the head on the pile of trash and reached down to wipe the gore off her hand on the corpse's dirty clothes. She stood and looked both ways, making sure that both ends of the alley were unoccupied. She smiled and glanced up. The crowds were growing smaller, but walking without shoes would draw attention, even if her new home was only a few blocks away. She needed to not be seen.
    Beth leapt up, grabbing the walkway again and flipping herself up and onto it with ease now that she knew how. She jogged up the stairs, winding back and forth until she'd reached the fourth floor. The roof was another ten feet up, but that was an easy jump. She landed on her feet and slipped on the ice and snow covering the roof. She caught herself on the lip at the edge and straightened before peering over the side. A twenty foot drop had broken bones. A fifty plus foot drop would leave her helpless.
    She shook the thoughts away. They were stupid. She was alive and well. That's what mattered. Well, not alive, technically, but better than that stupid junkie she'd sucked dry. Beth turned and looked to the north, where the next door building was. The alley was only ten feet wide, if that. An easy jump. She backed away from the edge, digging her toes in and easily finding purchase in the ice.
    Beth ran and leapt, sailing through the air and almost whooping in delight. She was flying! For a few seconds, at least. In a few years, according to Penny, she'd be able to make her own wings and fly wherever she wanted. A few years seemed like so far away, but she knew it would come and go in no time. Besides, she would never die. Time held little meaning now. Well, in the grand scheme of things. She only had a few hours left until sunrise. That was a deadline she didn't dare miss.
    She slid across the slippery roof of the second building until she dug her toes in and drove her heels down. The ice was only slippery when she wanted it to be. Another benefit of being a goddess. Beth grinned and turned to the west. The next building was the same height, but it was across a busy two way street. The road, plus sidewalks, meant she had a leap of thirty or forty feet.
    She grinned and dug her toes in. A few seconds later she was sailing through the air