Dance By Midnight Read Free Page A

"Well the guy that authorized this was named Allard Bonville, but he—"
    Sam moved faster than I expected. Not that I expected any movement. Before I could protest she had the hand and wrist she'd been examining wrenched up behind my back and I found myself kissing the floor. She sat on my bare ass and I swore I was going to get carpet burns on places I did not want carpet burns! "You're Cruorem !"
    I cringed. Sometimes we just do stupid shit in our lives that follows us no matter where we go. I wanted to protest that I wasn't a member, and that as far as I knew Bonville was no longer a threat. But that was just impossible because she had my face crushed into the carpet.
    I did hear the all too familiar click of a safety being removed from a gun. "Samantha—let him go or I swear, Sentinel or not, I'll fucking blow your head off. Dags is the closest thing to a friend I have and he knew Teresa and Brendi. Let. Him. Go."
    Several seconds ticked by before she let go of my arm and took her knee off of my back. Mike grabbed the sheet from the bed and helped me to my feet. He stepped between Sam and I, the gun still in his hand, as I covered up. Things seemed so surreal at that moment—as long as I'd known Mike I'd never seen him with a gun. I didn't even know he knew how to use one. And…it was a really big gun.
    Sam stood several feet away by the bedroom door. She looked ready to bolt. " Cruorem are worthless pieces of trash. They don't use magic for good—and Bonville is the worst of them."
    I peeked out from behind Mike. Did I mention Mike's taller than me? I come to the top of his shoulders. "Hey, choir here. I admit it was stupid of me, but I told you, I didn't choose to have the tattoos. I woke up and they were there."
    "So why are they integrated? And why are they pulsing?"
    I looked at my hands. "I don't see anything pulsing."
    "It's not something you can see. I felt it. The symbols are portals. Did you know that?"
    I nodded. "Bonville had pretty much marked me and three others as instruments in a ritual. The last thing I remember was…." And that's where the memories sort of petered out. I had flashes of a bracelet, one I'd received from a friend. Silver skulls. But I had no idea why I thought of it or where that bracelet was.
    "That's where your memory ends, doesn't it?" Mike asked.
    I nodded. Mike still stood in front of me and I didn't really feel any need to move out from behind him.
    Sam's shoulders relaxed. "So…was it this ritual that fused that book in your soul?"
    I put my hand to my chest as Mike finally moved. He stepped forward and turned to face me. "Book in your soul?"
    Now they were both looking at me. I held out my hands (yes the sheet was secure). "I don't know. What I was told was that the same Witch that helped me identify the symbols is the one that used the book to save my life."
    Mike reset the safety on the gun and tucked it into the back of his jeans which just seemed a bit crazy to me. He carried a gun, not just used it? He sat on the bed and faced me. "A Witch used a book to save your life. Shit Dags, and I thought I had a bad year."
    "Your year wasn't caused by brain-dead stupidity." Sam's tone wasn't as sharp as her words. "This book—it's the old Cruorem Grimoire , isn't it?"
    "I guess…." I hated the fact the only thing I could do was shrug. "I just don't remember anything past that moment. That was December…." I ran a hand through my hair. My head hurt again. " Last December."
    Mike waved dismissively at me. "I'm sorry. You've had a rough year and it's okay. You've always been there when I needed you and now I know why you disappeared."
    I searched his face and found something I didn't like. I couldn't read minds—or maybe I could and forgot how. But I knew Mike well enough, remembered him, that I recognized pain when I saw it. "Mike…what happened? Did you call me and I wasn't there?"
    His face told me everything, and nothing. When I'd first met Mike he was married, and then a