Read Wraith's Awakening (Para-Ops) for Free Online Page B

who's the only one? Hey little sister who's your superman? Hey little sister who's the one you want? Hey little sister shot gun!
    It's a nice day to start again. It's a nice day for a white wedding.
    It's a nice day to start again.
     
    I throw the scissors at the mirror and they bounce off and ricochet back at me. I don't flinch. My hands clench and I see my ugly scowl.
    Song lyrics! I can remember fucking song lyrics. Movies. Roger Rabbit characters and little singing orphans. But not my own name.
    Several thumps come from outside the bathroom, and I close my eyes and try to pull myself together. When I open them, I reason that Billy Idol hair ain't so bad, but maybe some color will do me good.
    I rifle unapologetically through the bottom cabinet in the bathroom, hoping to find hair products. Vindicated, I lift up a box of hair dye. Sunset red.
    A.J. actually colors her hair that god-awful color.
    White seems pretty nice all of a sudden.
    Returning the package to the sink, I shower, cursing when Colt turns out to be right.
    Despite cranking the shower to hotter than hell, the water is insufficient to warm me, not even for a few seconds. And I discover something else. Either A.J. uses extremely weak product or I've started to lose my sense of smell.
    Since it fits right in with everything else that's happened up to now, I'm pretty sure it's the latter. My existence, the one that started out so narrow earlier in the day, is narrowing further. Suddenly feeling claustrophobic, I whip back the shower curtain and step, dripping, onto the bathroom floor. I grab a towel to dry off, yank on my clothes, and wonder what else I will lose as the day continues.
    I pray it won't be my mind.
    Gingerly, quietly, I open the bathroom door just a crack. I hold my breath- figuratively, of course-and strain my ears for any sound.
    Nothing.
    I suppose A.J. is still locked in her room getting high on whatever the vampire gave her, and heaven only knows what Colt is doing. My eyes round as the thought occurs to me-what if he left me here?
    Jerking open the door, I run out to the living room. He's not there. Not in the kitchen either. I run to the sliding glass door and look out the back. I see a small brick patio and overgrown garden but no vampire. I feel a crushing weight on my chest, a splintering ache in my head, and head in the direction A.J. had gone. If he was fucking around with her, she might see something she didn't want to, but she needed to know if he'd left her. If he had. . .
    “She's not high. I'm not fucking her. And I'm still here, wraith.”
    I freeze and close my eyes.
    His voice continues to drift from the direction I'd been headed and I follow the sound.
    “You're tendency toward the dramatic, as entertaining as it can be, is likely to lead you to trouble. As I have no wish for more trouble, you need to curb your impulses.”
    He's hunkered down in a big chair in a darkened room, with lots of lit candles around him. It's evident from the crystals, incense, and doo-dads around him that A. J. is into metaphysical shit.
    “Shit?” he echoes with a raised brow.
    I press my lips together. “This is all shitty in my book.”
    He closes his eyes and tilts his head back.
    I wander in closer to him, noting that my own weariness seems to be stamped on his face. “How long will it take you to get your strength back? Enough to teleport, I mean?”
    “A few hours,” he murmurs.
    “Is she going to come out here?”
    “Unlikely.”
    I plop down Indian-style on the carpeting and stare at him.
    A crinkle appears between his brows.
    “Why won't she come out?”
    He opens his eyes and glares at me, which shuts me up. “I know you have many questions. I'll answer what I can. Right now, can we just rest? A few minutes of silence. Please.”
    For all his manners, the word please doesn't seem like it comes from him easily. I nod my head. When he closes his eyes again, I lay back, curling on my side with my hands under my cheek. I'm still