Token of Darkness Read Online Free

since that was the exact description Coach used for him. At two inches shy of six feet tall, he had still been one of the lighter guys on the team. It was all right that he didn’t have a lot of weight to throw around, though, since he had good hands and quick feet. Or, he used to.
    “Get hurt in practice?” Brent asked.
    Cooper cringed. He had gotten so used to carefully shifting his weight when he had to kneel or sit, relying on his good knee and hip, he hadn’t given it any thought when he had slowly eased onto the floor next to Brent.
    He just shook his head, and changed the subject. “So … anything good in here? I’m looking for stuff on ghosts.”
    Brent paused before asking, “What kind of ‘stuff’? Haunted places? Poltergeists? Séances?”
    “I’m kind of writing a book,” Cooper lied. “This guy’s being haunted and trying to figure out who the ghost is and how to help her. I thought I’d do some research.”
    “Uh-huh.” The invented plotline apparently didn’t impress Brent much. At least, that’s what Cooper thoughtuntil Brent added, “You’re a piss-poor liar. I don’t even know you and I know you just made that up. I hope you were a little quicker with the librarian or she’s probably called the truant officer already.”
    “You think?” Cooper sat up, worried.
    “Nah. Elise is cool,” Brent answered. “If she caught you at a movie or smoking somewhere she would call you on it in a heartbeat, but you’re in a
library
. She doesn’t care if you’re supposed to be in class.”
    “Good to know.” Amused, Cooper asked, “You’re on a first-name basis with the librarian? Do you work here?”
    “Work? No. Well, I volunteer sometimes. I practically live here when I’m not at school. I like the quiet.” Brent looked at the pile of books around him, as if he was trying to decide which to pick up next.
    “A little light reading?” Cooper asked, wondering why anyone would be doing such dedicated research before the school semester began. He wondered if he should insist he had been telling the truth about the book he was writing, or if he could come up with a better excuse.
    “Light by my standards,” Brent said, laughing a little. “I don’t think I believe in ghosts, but figured it might be interesting to research the phenomenon. But anyway. Your ghost. More of a specter, or a poltergeist?”
    “You just said—”
    “Yeah, I don’t believe for a minute you’re writing a book,” Brent interrupted. “And if you were looking up howto make arsenic or something I’d worry. But
ghosts?
It’s an interesting topic for discussion, but not likely to get anyone in trouble. Now, let’s start basic. Is your ghost location-bound or person-bound? Oh, or object-bound? They’re all different.”
    “Person-bound, I guess,” Cooper answered. Brent seemed like he could be helpful, and he wasn’t likely to talk to anyone Cooper knew, so it didn’t really matter why he was helping or what he thought Cooper needed the information for. “She goes wherever she wants, but this one guy is the only one who can see her.” He debated adding something about the shadows, but his gut seemed to twist when he even thought of them.
    Brent didn’t notice his hesitation. “Oh!” he exclaimed, seeming more excited now. “Then your
person
might be the thing to focus on, not your ghost. Maybe he’s psychic. Does he see ghosts a lot?”
    Cooper shook his head. “No, this is the only ghost.”
    “Hmm.” Brent paused, looking at the books around him. “Well, there are a lot of stories about people who did something—a séance, or violated a graveyard, et cetera—and got haunted for that. Is your ghost angry?”
    “No, just color-challenged,” Cooper mumbled, recalling Samantha’s outfits.
    “What?”
    “Never mind. No, she isn’t angry, but she’s frustrated that she doesn’t have a body.”
    “So she knows she’s dead?”
    Cooper nodded. “Oh yeah, she knows. She’s annoyed