Dance of Ashes and Smoke (Age of Monsters Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

my breath, but plastered a fake, welcoming smile onto my face to keep attention off of us.
    He perched on the arm of my side of the love seat. “It’s lovely to see you two again. I’ve been hoping we’d run into each other somewhere.”
    “And I’ve been hoping the opposite.” I laughed at Liv’s swat. “Oh, he knows I’m kidding.”
    His eyes danced at me. “Of course.”
    Olivia tried to smooth things over. “So, what have you been up to since we saw you last?”
    He shrugged. “More of the same I guess.”
    My eyes widened. “I sure hope not.”
    “I meant the healing part. I work as a vet tech.”
    I tried not to take offense to the vague reference to me being an animal he worked on. And the monsters still needed someone to take care of their non-human pets. They had a strange affection for cats and ferrets.
    Freaking psychos.
    Jackson squirmed in his seat, and the scent of smoky pine washed over me. It took everything for me not to close my eyes and lean closer to him.
    I cleared my throat and drained my coffee. “Well, it was good to see you, but we should really be going. The sun’s almost up and we have new performances to practice.”
    “Performances?”
    Crap.
    Liv ignored my eyes screaming at her to shut up. “We perform at the Cathedral Club every night.”
    His brows shot up in surprise. “I’ll have to catch a show sometime.”
    I snorted. “Good luck with that.” The only humans at our shows were bloodbags and hookers.
    He grinned, eyes darkening to a deep emerald green. “Challenge accepted.”
    I opened my mouth to argue, but Olivia dragged me away as I spluttered and hissed like a wet cat. “I do not like him.”
    She laughed loud and long. “Whatever you say.”
    “What?” I grabbed at Liv’s arm when her merriment caused her to slip on the slick ground.
    She kept our arms linked as we walked down the sidewalk. “I’ve never seen you look at a guy like that before. Not even Tim Haskins and you were head over heels for him.”
    “That was in seventh grade.” My voice raised in protest, echoing back at us through the empty street.
    “I know. Anyway, Jackson’s gorgeous. Nothing wrong with having fun.” She waggled her eyebrows.
    “I don’t think he’d be much fun. He’s annoying.” I ignored the dancing, green gaze still haunting me.
    “Okay.”
    I threw my nose high in the air. “Dude, I’m serious. Just because a guy has pretty eyes and a nice smile doesn’t mean he’s worth my time.”
    “Of course not, but he has a little more going for him than that.”
    “I don’t see it. Maybe you should have fun with him.”
    “No way. We don’t have any sparks. You do.”
    I scoffed. “Sparks? I didn’t realize angry tension was the way to true love.”
    Liv replied with only a giggle and a shake of her head.
    “What?” I demanded.
    “Nothing.”
    Uncomfortable, I changed the subject. “When do you want to try out the new song?”
    “Send it to me and I’ll run through it when I wake up. You work on your dance and by the weekend we can try a dry run with what I come up with.”
    “Sounds good.”
    “It’s a really beautiful song. I hate to waste it...” She trailed off, always careful of her words in public.
    “Yeah. Me too.” The monsters didn’t deserve this badass of a performance, but it writhed within me, and insisted on being set free. It had to be performed if only for my own soul.
    We turned onto the last street before starting the long road to our apartment, senses on alert in case of attack. Not that we’d be able to do much with all our weapons hidden away.
    I lifted my face up to the sky, the stars’ bright and friendly faces shining down on us for the first time in weeks. The air was clear and thin, giving us an unhindered view of the sparkling diamonds spilled over midnight blue velvet. I blew out a huge breath, enjoying the spirals of grey mist slipping from between my lips.
    There was a lightness in me I hadn’t felt in a long time,