Bloodlines: Everything That Glitters Read Online Free Page B

was, neither saying nor thinking a word.
    The door flew open just as I had swiftly grabbed Ash’s arm and yanked him down on the floor behind the chip racks. I peered up between two bags of Doritos and watched a huge man walk toward Corey.
    “Who were you talking to?”
    “Just another meaningless customer,” she shook as she stood there in fear.
    “Seems like you had a surprisingly long conversation in here, what were you talking about?”
    I saw her stare out of a nearby window and search the trees for answers. “The weather, it’s such a beautiful day outside,” she replied sharply.
    “What have I told you about conversing with the customers? You do this every time and you leave me no choice.” He reached over the counter and grabbed her dreaded hair and pulled her around to stand in front of him inferiorly. “Your job is to collect payment, not talk about weather.” He lashed out one of his huge fingers and dug one of his long nails into her chest.
    This is why she hates it here so much , I thought. She stood there cowering below the seven-foot giant, too afraid to speak another word.
    I shifted and looked out the glass doors and calculated the amount of time it’d take to run from the door and to the car. Since you can hear me, I know what happened while you were outside. I need you to use that to get us out of this mess. Looking into his eyes, I felt like this was my fault, getting us caught in a situation we clearly hadn’t bargained for when stopping to put gas in the car.
    He looked away from me and outside at the sky then crossed his arms over his chest. Then you should know how much that shit really hurts. Besides, the first time it was involuntary, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do it again.
    Don’t be such a coward , I mentally judged. Plus, nothing beats a failure but a try. So try until you have nothing left, only then will we move on to plan B.
    He rolled his eyes then sulked for a moment. Why can’t we just run out of the doors?
    Do you know anything about this? We can’t leave Corey; look what she’s already going through. I’ll owe you a solid.
    Fine, here goes nothing.
    I briefly watched as he began to split, another version of himself ripping from his body, tugging and pulling at his head and then eventually his mid-section. Watching him had my emotions crossed between disgust and horror. I turned my attention back into the store where Corey and her father still stood. Amazingly there wasn’t much he was thinking, his thought waves like very still waters.
    “I need this entire store clean before I get back from poker,” he grabbed her face and threw her down, her body making a small thud as she hit the ground. “Get to work, and if you even think about trying to run away again, your legs won’t be the only thing that I break this time.”
    I gasped and instantly covered my mouth praying the giant hadn’t heard me.
    “What was that?”
    I heard him take a single step forward but I couldn’t tell in which direction. Turning to look at Ash, my heart skipped a beat when two identical forms crouched next to me. I reached up slowly and pinched the one closest to me. Did you feel that? I saw a reply of agitation in his eyes before he began to make his move as decoy. Ash-2 stood, fighting to gain his footing. I don’t believe this, you’re trying to have us killed. Get your spawn under control!
    The real Ash ignored me and focused his energy on the clone. We both peered up through the rack at Corey’s dad while the thing walked around us and walked up to him.
    “I’m sorry sir, I shouldn’t have been eavesdropping but I couldn’t help but notice why your daughter hates your stinking guts.”
    Corey scrambled to her feet and stood between her father and Ash-2. “Don’t listen to him father,” she pleaded, giving me a slight signal of her hand, wanting me to run out. Instead of jumping up and running out of the store like she wanted, I couldn’t leave her here, not for him