Savannah Sacrifice Read Free

didn’t spend her time trying on jeans or flipping her hair while she texted away on her cell phone.
    “I’m surprised you don’t know. You seem to know everything,” she answered.
    “I wish I knew everything. It would make my job a hell of a lot easier.”
    “You mean it gets easier than being a shadow?”
    He ignored her jibe. She was angry. She had earned the right, but he didn’t have to give her the response she was gunning for. Nothing good would come of a fight.
    “Are you still shifting into your swan form?”
    “Not since my mother was killed.”
    “If it will make you feel better to go for a fly, I can keep you from getting hurt.”
    “Really? You are going to tell me that you care how I feel?” She gave him a look of disgust. “Why don’t you just leave?”
    “Look, I’ll leave, but if you need me, I booked the next room.” He pointed to the right. “Don’t go anywhere without letting me know. Savannah isn’t a great place for you to be running, or flying, alone.”
    “If I need a babysitter I’ll let you know.”
    • • •
    Starling had spent the night staring out the window, watching the lights of steamboats and liners as they passed down the river. When she’d finally slipped into the lull of sleep, her dreams had been filled with images of her mother’s spirit. Each time she tried to ask her mother, Carey, about the books, her spirit would fade from view, until finally Starling had given up and just sat in silence.
    The morning sun stole through the window and filled the room with its light.
    Starling …
Asclepius’s wraithlike voice broke the silence of her sleep-fogged mind.
I’m waiting. I need your help.
    “Go away,” she said aloud.
    Starling… you must find the
Libros Umbrarum
. We need you … you must help us.
    “What do you think I’m doing? Do you really think I want to go on a wild goose chase through a city where I don’t know anyone? Do you think I like being assaulted by you and your … your … ” Her anger rose as she searched for the word she needed. What could she call a group of ghosts other than a pain in her ass? “Your friends?”
    I have no friends.
    “Thanks to you and your kind, neither do I. Can’t you just leave me the hell alone?”
    If you don’t help me, you will die …
    “You can go fuck yourself.”
    The ghost’s laughter echoed through her like she was nothing more than an empty vessel.
Get the books. They hold the answer. If you can’t do it, we will find another, but don’t think we will go willingly.
    Her heartbeat thundered in her ears as a wave of panic passed over her. It wasn’t the first time she had been threatened by a spirit in her life, but in the last six months, the spirits had been growing angrier. “I’m not afraid of you.”
    Yes, you are.
    “I don’t need you breathing down my neck. Go the fuck away.”
    She unzipped her purse and grabbed her pill bottle with the GX 149. All she needed was one of the tablets Harper had prepared for her and the voices would stop, at least for now. She opened the orange bottle’s lid and peered inside. There were less than two dozen pills left. Taking out a white, oblong tablet, she swallowed it down.
    Her phone rang and Jasper’s smiling face filled the screen. A wiggle of excitement crept up her spine as she moved to answer. There was something nice about having someone around who actually gave a shit, even if he was paid to do so. Besides Harper and Chance, there was no one else alive who seemed to give a crap.
    “Hello?”
    “Sleep well?” Jasper asked.
    “Better than normal.” She tried to sound annoyed, but she couldn’t stop her excitement from spilling into her voice.
    “You ready to get back to Vegas?”
    “Absolutely not.”
    Jasper sighed. “Your dad and Harper were upset that you didn’t tell them you were leaving.”
    “Maybe I should’ve told them, but they would have tried to stop me, and I’m not going back, at least not yet. I have work to do.”