Love Beyond Sight Read Free Page A

morning—was not the time to lose his face. No one needed to see that. He wouldn't inflict the horror that was his appearance on anyone.
    More than anything else, he needed to get home so he could rest. He was two hours away from Eden. At this close of a distance, he should be able to monitor her without taxing himself this much. Except, the girl had a tendency to get herself into trouble. Apparently, this morning she'd gotten an early start.
    Shit .
    If he didn't find a new face before this one dissolved, he wasn't going to make it back to his apartment without being seen. He turned left down Congress and kept his head down. The rain was a fortunate occurrence; no one would think it odd he kept his head down as he ran. They'd just assume he didn't want to get wet.
    He slipped quickly into a coffee shop. Not much else was open at that hour and he considered himself lucky to have found anything at all. If he could, he would have stayed home to handle Eden's needs but blowing the demon out of her mind had required fresh air. If he had to be outside, where he could be seen, it was better if he kept moving; that way none of his neighbors got too suspicious about him. He wouldn't have a repeat of the problems he'd encountered in Cleveland. The nights he'd spent in jail barely holding onto his facial features had been a disaster.
    Never again .
    The cigarette burned down to the butt and burned his fingers. He flicked it to the ground. He might get ten extra minutes from the nicotine in his bloodstream. It's not like the cancer sticks could kill him. His kind didn't get sick like that but cigarettes were still disgusting and the fact that he had to smell the smoke on his clothes for the rest of the day was not going to improve his mood.
    Not that anything could .
    His face itched. If he touched the skin, it would peel right off. He dug his fingers into his palms to give himself a new sensation to concentrate on as he searched around the shop for someone who would suit.
    Looking up in quick spurts, he grabbed a newspaper from the bin and headed to the cashier to pay for it. There weren't a lot of people to choose from in the place; he had no time to dither. He'd been ugly before, the thought didn't disturb him if that was what it came down to, and the Fates knew his actual face was the stuff of nightmares.
    He could still remember the screams…
    Shoving that thought from his head with the same force he might use to stop a train from slamming into him, he spotted his target. The whole situation felt mildly amusing. Once upon a time, he'd actually felt guilty for having to do this type of thing. Now? Nothing. Not even a smidgen of remorse for his task at hand.
    Eden needed him to stay alive so he would for as long as it took to protect her. Then he'd see about ending it. He wouldn't die lying supine on a hospital bed. Samuel would see to it that he went down in flames, keeping the woman he loved, but could never have, safe in his wake.
    He jerked to the left bumping into the man behind him hard enough to jolt the poor fellow without making him spill his coffee. Samuel's movements were all about the right push, the lightest of touches. He'd had a lifetime to perfect his game.
    "Hey man, watch it."
    The man sounded way too annoyed for five in the morning. Samuel took a good look at him. With beet red eyes, Samuel would place bets that the dude was just getting home—not getting up in the morning. Blond haired and blue eyed with half-a-day's worth of stubble on his cheeks, he looked to be in his mid-thirties. He needed to take better care of himself, stop the hard nights of partying. But Samuel's mark's personal life was none of his business and he wasn't going to worry about the other man's health.
    He had enough on his plate.
    Samuel smiled. The guy had a good face. He'd be glad to borrow it for a week.
    So quickly that most people wouldn't even know he'd grazed his fingers over their face, he tapped the man's chin.
    "Sorry, dude." He