Read Touch If You Dare for Free Online Page B

He’s such a tease. Is he in? I owe him an espresso.”
    Linneah’s lovely smile didn’t falter, but she began walking toward Reina. “I’m so sorry, my dear, but I can’t let you go back into the Hallows. I shall be happy to escort you outside—”
    Plan B: Run.
    Reina bolted across the lobby toward the offices. She hip checked the doors open, then hit the panic button just inside the hall. The doors slammed shut behind her, and she heard the rumble of the black magic locks that Death’s grandma, Angelica, had installed. It had been a gift on Death’s hundredth birthday after some local devil worshippers had thought it would be a lark to see if they could steal a pair of Death’s underwear for their team unity bonfire.
    Apparently, a man’s skivvies were one of those things a grandmother considered sacred, because Angelica had put protecting her grandson’s banana hammocks on top priority. Next time a tighty-whitey thief tried to co-opt Death’s silk unmentionables, they’d find themselves trapped in the Hallows with no way out.
    Or, in an entirely foreseen adaptation of a brilliant technology, the leader of the HoneyPots would find herself trapped outside the Hallows with no way in, while a certain ex-Guide made a break for her boss’s office.
    There was a thud as Linneah crashed into the door, and a muttered curse, but Reina didn’t slow down. Linneah would have the HoneyPots on her within seconds.
    Reina ran past her office. Her twenty-four-carat white gold nameplate with embossed emeralds was no longer on her door. He’d already removed all signs of her existence? She stumbled, her legs suddenly clumsy as fear gripped her. I’m so sorry, Natalie. I swear I will fix this.
    The air suddenly reverberated with Linneah’s shrill “calling all sheepdogs” whistle, and then there was the clatter of spiked heels pounding the marble as HoneyPots abandoned their tasks and went into hunting mode. There had to be at least a dozen pairs coming after her.
    The women Death hired to service him in assorted ways might be talented at sexual favors, but he’d also trained them well in the protection of his castle. Women in general could be ruthless, but these particular ones? Let’s just say that getting caught by women defending the man who was their link to money, power, and orgasms wasn’t a particularly fantastic way to spend the afternoon.
    Reina glanced at her watch as she skidded around a corner. Two minutes past eleven. At least she was getting her timing right. Death always sucked down his quadruple espresso at eleven o’clock, and guess who was the only one who could get his temperamental machine to work?
    That’s right. Say hello to the caffeine goddess.
    The massive Brazilian pine doors of her boss’s office were shut, and Death’s vehement epithets were easily audible through the wood. Sweet! He was entering caffeine withdrawal, and she was the only one who could provide relief. Leveraging his caffeine addiction into a second chance was her only hope.
    It had to work.
    She jammed her fingers into the Swarovski crystal globe that locked and unlocked the doors in the Hallows. The moment her hand was inside, lavender mist began swirling, but there was no Open Sesame. “Hey, sweetie.” She leaned closer to the pale purple fog and wiggled her hand. “I’ve been bringing you M&Ms every day for the last nine years. Just open the door, okay? One more time—”
    Sharp pain suddenly hit her palm like a thousand razor blades. She yelped and jerked her hand out. Dozens of razor-fine quills were lodged in her skin. Oh, come on! After nine years of bonding, it treated her like a pariah just because some arrogant bastard had wrongfully fired her? “You could have just said ‘No,’” she hissed.
    She gritted her teeth, fisted the spines, and then yanked them all out in one motion. She screamed with pain and wedged her hand between her thighs. “Minor setback,” she gasped. “Nothing I can’t