Free Heartless (The Heartless Series) by Kelly Martin Page A

rational.
    I am.
    "You dreamed about her?"
    I hate myself now. I dug my own friggin' hole. I could've played cool. Told Sam that Danika was just a girl in my class. No big. Nothing major. People know other people without there being a big back story to it. But my stupid tongue got in the way. My tongue. Hart's favorite part.
    Ugh.
    Sometimes I wish my tongue lied a little better than he said it did.
    "Yeah, I guess. I mean it wasn't anything important. I just dreamed about Professor Mitchell's class, and she just happened to be sitting next to me."
    Sure, I'd never seen her before the dream or rather had never noticed her before then. I know in my heart of hearts that she had to have been in that class the previous few days. So, maybe my subconscious saw her and I didn't. Maybe that's why I dreamed about her? No, I don't believe that either, but I didn't have to. I just have to make Sam believe it.
    He bites on the inside of his cheek. He seriously isn't going to have anything left to bite if he keeps this up. I can imagine the damage he's doing to his mouth. Honestly, I've never seen Sam this nervous. He's really spooked, and that scares the hell out of me. "Sam, what's going on? Please, tell me."
    He clears his throat and looks anywhere but at me. "Like I said, the police came to talk to you. I said you'd already gone, so they decided to talk to me. They told me about that girl, Danika, dying. And that they wanted to talk to you. They found her without a heart, Gracen."
    I have to stay calm. "Why did they come here? I don't even know her. Not really."
    Sam looks down. When his eyes meet mine, they are cold, hard, dark. "Because of the freak out you had in class yesterday and screaming at her… and they found a piece of paper with your name on it in her pocket. Your name. Your address."
    "That's just not possible." Blackness starts to fill my vision, and I know I'm going to pass out if I don't get water quick. The colder the better. It always snaps me out of things like this. "I didn't know her. Not really. And besides, anybody could write a note and say it was from me."
    "Gracen, your fingerprints were on the note."
    I can't process this. I can't. My fingerprints couldn't have been on the note, because I didn't hold the note. I didn't see the note. I don't even know what note they're talking about. I don't suppose the police care about that, though. They'll see it as an open and shut case. Especially since I can't explain how my fingerprints got there.
    I didn't hurt her. I know I didn't. Last night, I was at the exact same location. Curled up in my bed, reading fan fiction on my computer just like any other red-blooded person. I wasn't out killing people. I start to tell Sam all of that when my phone dings in his hand.
    He looks at it, and I instantly know who it is by the way he rolls his eyes. Truth be told, I know who it is because she's the only person who ever messages me. Well, that's not entirely true. I do have a few people on Instant Messenger who message me, so it doesn't have to be her. Sam doesn't like Tina much. He says I spend too much time talking to her. He's really going to love this.
    "What does Tina want?" He doesn't look at me. He just sort of starts messing with my phone. He knows my keypad combination just like I know his. Unless he's changed it, which could totally be a possibility. I haven't checked in a long time.
    "I don't know." I grab for my phone, and he snatches it back.
    He looks at me then, challenging me. Am I really going to try to get something away from him? He's like twice my height and has muscles bigger than my head.
    He may have bigger muscles, but I have a psychotic demon in my head.
    Ha.
    I elbow him in the chest and take what's mine from his grubby little hands. Apparently, that was the wrong thing to do, because before I can revel in my victory, I'm on my back with my hands pinned down to the bed.
    "Let me go." My eyes can be all fierce and dark, too. At least they are in my