Free Intangible by J. Meyers Page A

and stopped. People everywhere. Shoppers, kids hanging out after school, professionals running late afternoon errands before heading home for the day. She wouldn’t have been able to move quickly through this crowd, so she should have been somewhere in the next block or two. But there was no sign of her.
    Jonas sniffed the air. Deep fried foods juxtaposed with oversweet perfume wafting out of an open shop door. But that’s not what he was sniffing for. He could smell nothing but humans.
    Strange.
    The street was speckled with colors—red cobblestones on the ground; rainbow-hued archways over the road on every block; red, orange, and yellow leaves on the abundance of trees; multicolor storefronts of books, the latest fashions, home decor; the colorful mishmash of t-shirts and sweaters on all the people. Even with his sharp eyes, it would be a challenge to find anyone in this throng.
    But he had an advantage. He was searching for a flicker—the tell-tale sign that one is no longer a part of this world, or never was.
    His eyes were drawn to the north end of the street—a flicker there. Ezekial, one of his own, appeared around the far west corner. Zeke’s slight build was deceptive—he was one of the quicker and stronger vampires Jonas had made. And his angelic face fit him despite his vampiric nature, for Jonas would almost swear he was part angel. That was why he had made Zeke so powerful and now put so much trust in him.
    Though he didn’t trust him completely.
    Jonas didn’t trust anyone completely.
    Zeke was looking toward the church at the top of the street, then turned and spotted Jonas. He nodded and jerked his head toward the church. In the shadow of the large spire, Jonas saw her. Meghan had just crossed to the other side of the road. She turned to look back down the street, searching, worried. Their eyes met. She paled.
    And ran.
    Jonas raced after her, as quickly and carefully as he could. He ran across the street and around the church, following the direction she’d gone. Through parking lots, behind houses, beyond a grove of trees, over a black iron fence and into the graveyard.
    The grassy expanse of the cemetery was a block long and wide, with roads running along three sides, backyards along the fourth. Neat rows of pale headstones ran parallel to the long side of the rectangular plot. Flowers were dying on graves here and there, and a circle of trees stood dead center, offering shelter from view.
    Jonas stood still just inside the graveyard and stared at her. Meghan was in the circle of trees fifty yards away, the deep green grass around her littered with yellow leaves.
    She should have been gone. Disappeared. This was the perfect place to do that—it was deserted. No witnesses. Instead, she was breathing heavily, hand on her side as if she were in pain, a few hundred yards from where she took off. Jonas walked toward her, his gaze not wavering for a moment, and stopped several feet from where she panted.
    Vampires didn’t get winded.
    He narrowed his eyes, assessing her. She’d lost her preternatural shimmer—no wonder he hadn’t be able to pick her out of the crowd on Church Street. Her eyes were a warm brown instead of their usual black, and no longer protected by sunglasses. She wasn’t even squinting. He looked up at the sky through his purple lenses. There wasn’t enough cloud cover to go without glasses.
    “Stay away from me, Jonas,” Meghan said. She’d caught her breath, and stood up, glaring at him, her usual fierce self. The first time Jonas had ever seen Meghan she’d been furious, and freshly turned. By whom, he didn’t know. It had taken years of his more calming influence to tone her down to a simmering rage. But her hair-trigger temper had remained. He was glad to see it was still intact.
    “What’s wrong with you?”
    “Nothing.”
    “Are you still hurt?”
    “No,” she said. “Leave me alone. I don’t belong to you.”
    “But you do.” He opened his arms wide,