Free Band of Demons (The Sanheim Chronicles, Book Two) by Rob Blackwell Page B

had killed her mother. But now she had no idea what was after them or why.
    She hurried faster along the path. She loved this cemetery. It was old, with trees that made a thick canopy of leaves overhead. Here and there, slivers of sunlight broke through onto the gravestones. It was the place she had her first real talk with Quinn, back when their biggest worries had been bad dreams. That at least was a difference between then and now. Last fall, she had felt alone, isolated. Now, Quinn was with her. Whatever her fate, he would share it.
    They were… what? Soul mate is the term most people might use, but that didn’t feel like it covered it. She was him and he was her.
    She came to the end of the old part of Middleburg Baptist Cemetery and saw Quinn sitting on the same bench where she had found him more than six months ago. It was in the new part of the graveyard, with no tree cover but a view of a picturesque pond. The bench was in memoriam of someone and for just a moment, Kate had an awful premonition. Quinn sat totally still on the bench, looking more like a statue than a person. Like a gravestone , she thought. He looks like a gravestone .
    Quinn stood up abruptly and turned around, breaking the effect.
    Jesus, honey , he said in her mind. She saw him glance down at himself as if to make sure he was still there. Thanks for that lovely image.
    They walked toward each other, both trying to banish the thought from their minds. As they reached each other, she pulled him in tightly for a kiss and the world, with all its fears and prophecies, was gone.
    If asked to describe it in words, neither could have done so. Just a week ago, this kiss would have been sweet and emotional, but by the standards of the rest of human experience, entirely normal. But with their powers now suddenly back, this was unique. Their contact was electric, like a pulse running back and forth between them. What she felt, he could feel. What he thought, she could hear.
    When they kissed like this, it was as if it wasn’t just the last one they might share, but the final kiss at the end of the world.
    God, I missed this , she thought.
    She sent him an image of the two of them lying intertwined, naked in bed. Much like kissing, the sex between them was always good, but nothing out of the ordinary. Now, however, it would be so powerful—the physical joining of two who already share a consciousness.
    With great effort, Quinn pulled away. If he didn’t, he worried they would soon find themselves making love in the middle of the cemetery.
    What a wonderful idea , Kate thought.
    “Just not right now,” he said out loud and laughed. He put his hand to her cheek and caressed it. “We have time to do this later. Like when it’s dark and we don’t have someone trying to kill us.”
    He thought about what he knew was really bothering her—the image of him still as a statue, a cold gravestone.
    “I’m not going to die, you know,” he said.
    She responded by pulling him close again.
    “Make love to me,” she said, looking into his electric blue eyes.
    “Here? Right now?” he asked, but he knew what the answer was.
    She kissed him again and that pulse between them was even stronger than before. She pulled away briefly and whispered in his ear, “I’ve been waiting months for this. Let’s just enjoy it.”
    He thought about every reason they shouldn’t. Zora’s murder, her letter, the book. Something out there was after them and they didn’t know the first thing about it. They needed to start looking for answers. Not to mention that it was broad daylight and a cemetery.
    But all of those reasons suddenly felt paper-thin. She was right. They had waited months for this. Why shouldn’t they enjoy it? She started kissing his neck and the urge to stop her was gone. Instead, he lifted her face to his and started kissing her again while his hands began loosening the buttons on her blouse.
    Sex was the key to becoming the Prince of Sanheim. When they had