Free Inception (The Marked Book 1) by Bianca Scardoni

guilt of having to leave him behind. It was easier to tell that lie than the one listed on his autopsy report. “It’s just me and my uncle now.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that,” he said, bowing his head slightly.
    “Thank you.”
    He crossed his hands behind his back again. “Your sister, she doesn’t live with you and your uncle?”
    I shook my head. “She moves around a lot.”
    “What sort of places?”
    “All over really. Chicago, Portland, Toronto…she’s even been to Dublin and she’s not even Twenty-one yet.”
    “Impressive.”
    “I think so,” I smiled proudly. I couldn’t wait to graduate high school and hightail it into the world just like she did.
    “Does she visit you often?”
    “She tries to, but you know how it is.”
    “When was the last time you saw her?”
    I thought back to the last time I’d seen my sister, when she came to visit me in the hospital and told me that I needed to start playing nice with the doctors if I ever wanted to get out of that place. Of course, I would be keeping that part to myself, for obvious reasons.
    “It’s been...a while. A few months.”
    He nodded without looking. “So that leaves you on your own.”
    “Yup. Just me and my uncle.” Ugh, I said that part already.
    “How about a boyfriend?” he asked.
    I smiled, seeing an opening. “Thanks, but you’re not my type,” I quipped. I couldn’t help myself.
    Dead air. He wasn’t even smiling.
    My cheeks ignited. “I’m just kidding,” I rushed to clarify. “It was a joke. I knew you weren’t offering to be my boyfriend.”
    It seemed like a funny thing to say in the moment. He probably thinks I’m some high school twit now. Damn me for not having a better mouth filter on this thing.
    “I knew it was a joke,” he smiled lazily, and then craned his head in closer to me. “I’m just not sure I liked the part about not being your type.”
    “Oh.” Ohhhh . Butterflies began waltzing in my belly as my lips moved again. “Well, that part was a joke, too.” The words just sort of spilled out on their own.
    He was grinning now, and God was he hot.
    “W-what about you?” I stammered, feeling flustered and desperate to redirect the conversation. “What’s your story? Do you have family here? A girlfriend?” I applauded myself silently for slipping that in.
    “No family here. No girlfriend.”
    “Well, don’t tell me everything all at once,” I scoffed at his nondisclosure.
    He smiled crookedly. “If you want to know something, you’ll have to be more specific in your asking.”
    “Okay.” I already had a question ready. “How old are you?”
    His lips curled up. “Probably too old for you.”
    Probably. At least it wasn’t a definitely.
    “Your answers are still pretty vague,” I noted.
    “I never said they wouldn’t be.”
    His eyes gleamed under the moonlight like two magnificent onyx stones—dark, mysterious, and beckoning. I looked away, afraid of what they were stirring up inside me.
    “Everything okay?” he asked coyly. He seemed to be laughing at me again, like he knew he was having an effect on me.
    “Yeah. Totally.” I looked back up at my surroundings, suddenly noticing we had already reached the main boulevard and were about to take a turn down an unfamiliar road, though in all fairness, most of the roads were still unfamiliar to me at this point. “Are we walking all the way?”
    “Yes. Is that a problem?” he asked, evaluating my face.
    Well, let’s see. Essentially, the Blackburn estate sat atop the undulating rises of Hollow Hills, overlooking much of the town below. It was a long way up the winding roads, especially on foot, and left us exposed and at the mercy of a wide number of possibilities ( night-walking possibilities) so yes, it was definitely a problem for me.
    Of course, I couldn’t very well say that to him.
    “Well, there’s a lot of road to cover. I’m afraid my feet won’t make it,” I said instead, sounding incredibly lazy.
    “It