Spellbinder by Melanie Rawn

Author:Melanie Rawn [Rawn, Melanie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, Fantasy, Magic, Fantasy Fiction, New York (N.Y.), Contemporary, Crime, Romance, Court Marshals, Witches, Suspense, Epic, Love Stories
ISBN: 9780765315328
Google: mMgTS82-jlUC
Amazon: 0765354365
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2006-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

****

SHE USED HER KEY AND entered silently, fairly certain what she'd find. He was supposed to move into her place next week, and so his apartment was packed up. The living room had been denuded of most furniture and all decoration, save for the photo of him and his parents at his NYPD Academy graduation. This sat on the coffee table—a silent taunting surrounded by a repugnant litter of bottles, beer cans, pizza boxes, and full ashtrays. Yes, pretty much what she'd expected.

But as he came into the living room, cigarette dangling from his lips as he buttoned his jeans with clumsy fingers, she discovered things were even worse than she'd feared. He hadn't shaved in more than a week. Or showered, by the smell of him that assaulted her nostrils from all the way across the room. The booze showed in his eyes, in the unhealthy pallor of his skin, in the belly curving against his tee-shirt. He registered her presence without surprise, taking the cigarette from his lips and gesturing expansively to the sofa—a move that nearly made him lose his balance, he who was always so lithe.

"Oh. You're here," he remarked. "How nice. Have a seat, baby."

His voice, despite quantities of alcohol, was sharp as shattered glass. She'd seen him mildly tipsy, cheerfully plastered, and owl-eyed inebriated —but never liquor-sodden. She hadn't suspected he'd be an ugly drunk. He slumped grace-lessly onto the sofa, legs splayed, and ran his fingers back through his hair, exposing the long widows peak for a moment before the lank, dirty strands fell across his brow.

Holly sat cross-legged on the floor within reach of the coffee table, and leaned over to snag a pack of smokes and a lighter. "Mind?" He answered with a shrug. She lit a cigarette, breathing in deeply. Ten years since she'd quit smoking. The rush prickled every hair on her head. Exhaling, she looked up at him through the white cloud and said, "Susannah called."

"Nice of her. Everybody's nice these days, didja notice? Everybody wants to call and talk."

Holly took off her cardigan and tossed it aside. The overnight Nairobi-to-Heathrow flight had been ferocious; Heathrow to JFK -was worse. Her body had no idea what time it was. Jet-lag clotted her wits just when she needed them most.

There -was a sneer in his voice as he said, "Shouldn't treat cashmere like that—oops—sorry, baby, I forgot. You can afford a hundred of 'em."

"A thousand," she retorted, and he inclined his head in sarcastic apology.

"I'm not being a good host," he said. "Not very nice of me." He leaned over for an open can of beer. "Want one?"

"No, thanks." After another drag on the cigarette, she said, "I hear you've been something of a jerk."

"Evan hauled off and let him have it right in the gut, in front of about two thousand people —plenty of 'em reporters."

"You could say that." He finished the beer in two long swallows, crumpled the can in one large fist, and tossed the abused metal over his shoulder.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.