Karen Greco - 03 Steele City Blues by Karen Greco

Author:Karen Greco [Karen Greco]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I stared at the red-tinged hue of the setting sun, creeping around the velveteen blacks that Frankie pinned up around the windows. I wished I could throw open the curtains and absorb its warmth.

I shivered and pulled the blankets tighter around me. The thing about being dead is it’s pretty damn cold, the kind of cold that settles into you bones and makes them ache. And it never really goes away.

There was a light tapping on the door.

"Who is it?" I croaked. I knew it was Frankie. No one else visited me in my sick room. No one liked to be around the dying. But I still asked the question, just to be difficult.

Frankie poked his head through the door. "You up for a visitor?"

I buried my head into the pillows, not ready to face him after what had happened between us. "Maybe later."

His eyes glowed at me through the dark room. He pursed his lips. "It's later."

The door creaked open and Frankie pushed a man in the room, shoving the stranger so hard that he face-planted onto the floor.

I inched my way into a sitting position, ignoring the pain ripping down my spine. "What the hell, Frankie? You think I want an audience for this?"

"For what?" Frankie asked. "Dying?"

I wilted back into the mattress and turned my head away from him. "You'd have to stake me to kill me."

"According to your grandfather, it may take more than a stake to take you down," he said.

I turned my head towards him. "What the hell does that mean?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?"

"Because I will sink my teeth into his fucking heart and bleed him dry."

Frankie clapped his hands together. "That's my girl! But as I mentioned before, we need the old man alive. This git..." He kicked the man, who mistakenly assumed Frankie wasn't paying attention and was crawling towards the exit. "This git is dinner."

"I'm not hungry," I lied. My eyes tracked Frankie. His behavior wasn't the least bit strained. Did I dream our near-hookup last night? If I did, it still felt very real.

"You need to eat something, Nina, or you will waste. And that is much worse than death."

I swallowed. This was the first time I’d smelled a human since starting to turn, and he smelled delicious. "Where'd you get him?"

"Does it matter?" Frankie asked.

My glare told him it did.

"Found him snooping around the alleyway,” Frankie continued. “Said your mum sent him."

I sat up again. The aches from the movement stabbed at my body. "Sent him for what?"

"Go on, tell the lady," Frankie said. "What'd Leila send you for?"

"I don't know any Leila," the man said, shrinking away from me.

The way his eyes darted around the room told me he was lying. I crawled from the bed and padded toward him. Each step was agony, but I propelled myself forward, pushing through the pain. I yanked at what was left of his overlong hair on his balding head and pulled him to his feet.

"It's time to tell us why Leila sent you.

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