Free The Deadliest Bite by Jennifer Rardin Page B

two!”
    Raoul handed him the teeth. “They’l take form for you as soon as you reenter your body.”
    “Magical!”
    Raoul smirked. “Just don’t lose them.” His eyes sent the bigger message, or your sense of humor .
    Cole nodded. “Gotcha. Thanks.”
    Raoul clasped his hands behind his back. “Anytime,” he said, his faint Spanish accent suddenly a little easier to detect. By damn, he is getting attached to us! “We must leave soon,” he said, nodding to the golden cords that surrounded us. They were beginning to fade. “Perhaps you’d like to say goodbye?”
    “Can she hear me?” Cole asked.
    “At some level.”
    Cole went up to E.J. Wow, she was tal ! Her eyes were nearly at the same level as his. I felt tears prick my eyelids. To see the child I’d give anything to or for standing, al grown up, beautiful and healthy, blew me away. The man who’d decided to spend the next chunk of his life hoping she’d save his soul walked to within a few inches of her. Her gaze, uplifted and thoughtful, flew far past his tired blue eyes. But he didn’t seem to mind.
    “Ezri, it’s Cole Bemont. Remember that name, okay? It’s going to be a big deal to you someday.” My hand flew to my mouth when his you-real y-should-hug-me grin appeared. I hadn’t seen it in so long I’d almost forgotten how happy it made me when it came out to play. “I’m not the man that you’re going to need me to be yet. But I’ve got a while to get myself straight. And, I promise, by the time you’re ready for me, I’l be set to sweep you off your feet.” He leaned forward to murmur into her ear. Her eyes came to his face, sparkling as they found a new focus. When he pul ed back she was smiling straight at him. The breath left him in a long sigh. He blew her a kiss.
    And then he turned to Raoul.
    “Okay, dude. Take me back to my so-cal ed life. I’ve got work to do.” CHAPTER SEVEN
    Wednesday, June 13, 3:15 a.m .
    Raoul dropped us into our bodies so fast it felt like faling from a plane without a parachute. And the pain of reuniting sum and substance—wel , my brother, Dave, wrestled in high school. One Saturday morning, somewhat miraculously, I didn’t have to work. So I went to his tournament, where I saw one of his teammates throw a guy onto the mat. Happens al the time, but this snowy day in January the kid tried to catch himself—and failed. His arm broke so severely that I could see the bone shove the skin out of place. His shocked scream reminded me of the sounds Cole and I made now as every one of our nerve endings fused back to the source of their existence.
    “I wish you would stop doing that,” Vayl said as he helped me to my feet. His lips pressed into a straight line as he continued, so quietly I thought only I could hear. “Every time you leave I am more certain than ever that you wil not be returning.”
    I realized I was wrong about how the sound carried into the velvety black countryside when Aaron said, “Roldan told me you were a badass.” He stood on the gravel drive with his fists stuck deep in the pockets of his bleach-stained jeans, most likely so we couldn’t see his hands shaking. When he realized he had Vayl’s attention he went on. “He warned me to kil you quick, otherwise you’d shred me like grass clippings. But there you are, kissing up to some chick who’s been impersonating a blackout drunk for the past half hour. How am I supposed to believe you’re going to save my skin when you’re just another whipped—” He gasped, stopped in mid-sentence by the whirlwind of movement and coiled violence that ended with Vayl dangling him in the air by the throat.
    My sverhamin ’s voice seemed to rise from a place guarded by iron bars and rusted chains as he said, “You are stil the same sharptongued coward who let your brother take the blame for every foolhardy escapade you ever attempted, including the theft of the wagon that led to your deaths over two hundred and fifty years ago. But I