Innocently Evil (A Kitty Bloom Novel) Read Free Page A

past mine again and I got goose bumps. When he was looking into my eyes once more, he felt so much closer. He looked down at the necklace and I could feel his hands slide from my neck, down the chain, and then stop at the pendant. “There,” Max said. “Very beautiful indeed.” His amber eyes came back to mine and I felt a little like a deer in headlights.
    For some reason words weren’t forming sentences in my mind. Max smiled at me and seemed to move in closer again.
    I jarred my head back and swallowed. “I should go,” I said, drawing on courage from screaming instinct.
    Max leaned back and frowned. “Will you promise me that we will continue our discussion sometime in Saint Jean? Or shall I make arrangements to come find you?”
    I wasn’t certain which suggestion was the lesser evil. Both sounded as though they would alter the course of the earth, or at least my place in it. “I promise to find you,” I said, feeling very tempted to cross my fingers behind my back.
    Almost as though he sensed my caution, Max gave me a firmer stare. I smiled and hoped that I looked more innocent than scared.
    “Then I shall see you soon, Kitty Bloom,” said Max. “And we shall discuss a little of our family history.” His seriousness seemed to turn light hearted at that and again he gave me a smile.
    “Right,” I said slowly, worried that it wasn’t the right answer. “Thanks again for the gift.” I began to turn to face the door and thankfully Max stepped back to let me. I pressed the button to open the connecting doors and gave him one last look.
    He was still smiling, all seriousness gone. “Pleasant days and peaceful nights until we meet again,” Max said.
    The doors to the next carriage burst open and relief overwhelmed me at the thought of freedom.
    “Yes,” I said. “Bye then.” I stepped out of Max’s train carriage without another thought and refused to let myself look back until I was safely in my own carriage.
    All was well. He hadn’t followed me. I found Mum still asleep in her chair and I sat down next to her. My mind raced wildly with one conflicting thought after another. I was so confused it was starting to give me a headache. I closed my eyes and before I knew it, I was drifting through the deepest of sleeps, seeing only amber eyes and full moon pendants spinning through my dreams.
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Two: The Golden Haired Boy
     
    I woke up to the sound of a train horn and a pat on the knee from my mum. “We’re here,” she said, but here wasn’t Saint Jean.
    The train had come to a stop at the main station in Cannes and was waiting, by the sound of the horn, impatiently for us to disembark and head aboard our connecting bus. I looked out the window at all the people scurrying off the carriages and onto the platform, hurrying to be the first to collect their baggage and continue their journey to Hell only cares where.
    “Come on , Kitty cat,” said Mum. “Open those eyes wide and stretch those claws, it’s time to brush off your cat nap and prepare for a new adventure.”
    “Ha ha,” I said, sarcastically. Then, obediently, I snatched up my bag and jacket, and followed Mum to the exit.
    After a quick glance at all our luggage dumped unhappily by the side of the train, we decided to kidnap a porter from the information desk for a little extra muscle. Once all our things had been transferred from the platform into the bus’ insides, it was time to finish the final leg of the journey. Or so we thought.
     
    “There’s more,” I said incredulously as I switched off my MP3 player and took out my earphones.
    We’d just travelled uphill for the past hour and a bit, driving past million-dollar mansions and resorts in Cannes, and more recently little French country cottages and mysterious hill-side villages. But, apparently there was more, and it was all uphill.
    “The buses can’t go up there, honey, the roads are too