Free One Kiss: An Apocalyptic Urban Fantasy (Transmissions from The International Council for the Exploration of the Universe., #1) by Emily Kimelman, E.J Kimelman Page B

chest like a heartbeat. Thump, thump, thump, it pushed out into my limbs, tingling at the very tips of every digit.
    My eyes sprung open. Dr. Tor was right there. Startled, I sat up quickly and my lips crashed into his. Then I was grabbing onto the hair at the back of his head and forcing my tongue into his mouth. Wet and hot and needy, the link between us radiated. I recognized this feeling. This great burst of life exploding inside of me, draining out of him. This was how I killed my stepfather. This was a hallucination.
    I felt's Issa's hands on my shoulders, trying to push me back onto the couch. His tongue entwined with mine, he fought me. I collapsed back, my chest heaving, body tingling. Issa fell back, dropping onto the coffee table. He stood up quickly, wobbled slightly, then took two steps away from me. "Holy shit," he said. "I'm sorry."
    "No, please, I'm sorry," I said, sitting up. He backed away from me as I moved to the edge of the couch. Issa raised a hand to his lips, lightly touching them. They looked swollen. His fingers trembled. Every cell in my body was telling me to stand up and take that mouth again. To take every part of him, to beg him to take every part of me. "You should go," I said.
    "I..." he paused. "I just never—it's not your fault," he said.
    "I need you to go," I said, my voice wavering.
    "Please," he said, taking a step forward.
    "Go!" He stumbled back from me and I felt my breath almost as a force when I told him to run.
    He did.

<<<<>>>>
    " You must have realized then what you were."
    "I'd always known I was different. This just seemed more proof."
    "But the power you felt."
    She bit her lip, and it was one of the sexist things I'd ever seen in my life. I actually stopped breathing. I saw her lips moving but couldn't hear her over the sound of blood rushing in my ears.
    "Hey, are you listening?" she asked, breaking the spell.
    "Sorry," I said.
    She smiled. "It happens. Try not to look at me."
    I pulled my eyes down to the table, the full ashtray, the two empty beers. "So what about the power you felt?" I asked.
    "I didn't know what it was or how to control it. For all I knew it was a hallucination."
    "So what did you do?”
    <<<<>>>>

CHAPTER TEN
    A fter Dr. Tor left I threw up. Then I took a shower, dressed, and got my ass to band practice.
    "Darling!" I realized Michael had been saying my name.
    I still felt weak and light headed, my mind clouded. Michael was standing at the mic, a hand on his hip. "You ready?"
    I nodded, picking up my bow and placing it against the strings. Emmanuel smiled over at me and I tried to smile back, but I could feel the fear slipping up my spine and settling into my fingers. I couldn't do it; I felt that truth in the deepest part of me. Without Megan I was nothing and my fingers would prove it with every foible, every slip, every mistake. I bore down on the violin, holding it tightly, knowing that was the wrong way to go. As the band began to play I waited for my beat and then came in just a moment too early, eager, pathetic.
    We did three songs, my performance off during each one. Michael began to throw looks at me, ones from under his lids, trying to hide the anger in his eyes; but I could feel it vibrating off him. And why wouldn't he be mad? I was terrible. I gripped harder, my fingers pressing against the strings, tightening onto the bow so that there was not even the hint of fluidity in what I was doing.
    Michael stopped singing and Dre's sticks stopped beating against the drums. Emmanuel's steady bass was the last to stop. "Let's take a break," Michael said, smiling at me. Then he looked over at Emmanuel, jerking his chin at me, as if to say, You deal with it.
    Dre stood up and stretched toward the ceiling. Pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pants pocket, he headed out for a smoke. "I'm going to get some air," Michael said, following him.
    I put my bow and fiddle back in their case and looked down at them. "Hey," Emmanuel said behind me. "You need