Free She Speaks to Angels by Ami Blackwelder Page A

Krysta for the first time. At first, in the cafe, I thought she pined for Kian, but now the interactions seemed more hostile, like when Molly and Jennifer compete for the title of who’s smarter.
    Nathaniel watched me closely, eyes soft, but full of story. “Quiet, Kian,” he whispered. I’d never heard him say so much.
    “ She already knows.” Kian responded.
    “ Knows what?” I trembled from being so close to Kian. His statuesque form hovered over me, engulfed me. I could feel him from all sides, although he only stood in front.
    “ Knows that Tommy’s death wasn’t a suicide.” Kian stepped an inch closer, and our lips almost touched. Eve had been tempted by the apple in the Garden of Eden. I now understood her plight.
    “ You don’t think so, either,” I said under my breath. Maybe no one but Kian heard me.
    “ No. We know it wasn’t.”
    “ Then who did it?”
    “ Or what.” His whisper fell only on my ears...or so I thought.
    Batting her hands in the air Krysta threw her head back. “Great, now you’re going to drag her into all of this. Endanger her life.” Molly and Jennifer hadn’t heard the discourse between Kian and me, simply saw the mix of seriousness and desire on my face, but when they heard Krysta’s rant, they turned to me.
    Worry lines met around Molly’s mouth, and wrinkles furrowed Jennifer’s brows.
    “ Endanger?” I squinted, confused.
    “ She knows too much already,” Krysta grumbled. I couldn’t be sure what she meant. If I knew too much about the murder of Tommy? Clark? Or the angels? Did they see them too?
    “ She is already involved. Haven’t you felt the power shift?” Kian defended his decision as he grunted into Krysta’s ear. Nathaniel seemed to stand between my friends and his like a shield.
    “ What are you guys talking about? Do you know who killed Tommy?” Molly’s face turned hot. But Kian went silent. Whatever he had to say, he seemed to only want to say to me.
    “ Well?” She stomped her foot.
    Dagger looks from Krysta met Molly’s angry gaze. “Tommy never would have jumped. You have all the information you need to figure out who and why. All you have to do is take it to the cops.”
     
     
    Kian gritted his teeth and shot an angular glare at his friend.
    “ What?” Krysta reacted to his look. “Someone has to put an end to this child’s investigation before more mayhem comes of it.”
    “ Child’s investigation?” Jennifer hated implications of stupidity. “We’ve practically solved the crime. We should be given an award or something.”
    “ Right,” Krysta couldn’t resist. “You’ve connected the well-plotted dots. Good for you. Let’s all go home now.”
    Molly’s glare veered from Krysta to Nathaniel and finally to Kian. These three hooligans knew about Tommy’s death before she did. Krysta surely seemed to know more than she let on, and they implicated that I, her best friend, might be in danger. What the heck was going on? “Maybe Krysta’s right. It’s time we all get out of here before someone gets hurt.”
    “ I’m with you on that,” Jennifer agreed. “I’m looking forward to that warm sofa and cup of tea. Come on, Ali.”
    As my two best friends in the whole world turned their backs on me and headed to the door, I felt a tickle at my ankle. Leaning down, I curled my fingers around a stark black feather. I fanned it out and found it to be the size of my palm. I’d never seen a feather quite like this one. I felt another on my ankle and turned to see one more blow out from under the rain gutter. I must have knocked them loose.
    While I held one feather in my hands, the other two swirled into the air. Carried by the gusts of wind, they danced into the sky where they belonged. I watched them fly away like listless birds into the chalky clouds and disappear.
    Turning back around, Molly and Jennifer waited at the door which stood ajar as Kian whispered to me, his words like velvet on my skin. “Your life is in