A Touch Mortal by Leah Clifford Page B

Before you woke up here.”
    “After Az…” The words thickened in her throat with the memory of Az’s face as he fell, his body lying broken on the pavement.
    Kristen nodded, her face almost sympathetic. “Go on.”
    “I was on the beach,” she stuttered.
    “In the water or out?”
    “In.” Her brow furrowed. Why was it so fuzzy? “I was standing, in the water.” She hesitated. “I was standing in the water and…then nothing. I woke up here.” Kristen slid off one glove in a deliberate sweeping gesture before turning her attention back to Eden.
    “All right, my little blank slate, let’s just dive in, shall we?” The gloved hand shot forward suddenly, grabbing Eden’s wrist.
    “Let go!” Eden jerked, but Kristen held tight. “What are you doing?”
    Kristen’s grin spread. She dragged Eden’s hand closer, until it hovered just above the ribbed corset of her dress.
    “You’re lying about the beach.” Kristen sneered asshe yanked. “Everyone remembers their death.”
    Eden’s fingertips hit Kristen’s collarbone.
    The skin slid loose from Kristen’s face, down her cheeks. Eden couldn’t tear her hand away. Couldn’t move. One of Kristen’s eye sockets went hollow, the bone behind yellowed. What was left of her lips ripped apart as her smile widened.
    Eden wanted to scream, but nothing would come out.
    “Not even a shriek?” The features slid back to where they belonged, the pert nose seeming to form out of nowhere. There was no blood, everything back to normal. “Do not puke on my rug,” she said before releasing Eden’s hand. It hung there in the air, shaking.
    I’m hallucinating , she thought. It was the only explanation. Her mind clamped onto the idea, though her body hadn’t caught up, her mouth opening and closing like a dying carp. Stress. Grief. Or they drugged me. The excuses explained everything away in a dainty little package.
    “Would you like to know what happened on the beach, Eden?” Kristen snapped. She stepped closer even as Eden shrunk from her. “The idea of living a life without Az was just too much for your pretty little head. You stood in that water, and you couldn’t stand the thought of going on. You gave up.”
    “No,” Eden whispered.
    “Whatever horrible existence you managed to carve outfor yourself died with you.” Kristen went on, her words slow and careful. “You must have noticed them forgetting you. Family, your friends? It may have taken Az’s death to give you that final push, but your suicide was already inevitable.”
    “I’m not dead, that’s just…” She’d been on the beach, in the water, in shock. Eden shook her head, trying to rattle the sanity back into it.
    “Your old life is over, Eden. You’re a Sider now.” Her bare feet padded across the floorboards. Just before she reached the door, she turned. “Gabe brought you here because he knew you needed to be with your own kind. I took you in as a favor to him. But I don’t have time to coddle you. You’re dead.” A smile twitched her lips. “Live with it.”
    Eden checked the door after the sound of Kristen’s footsteps faded. It didn’t surprise her to find it locked, though her heart still sank. She scanned the room, searching for a phone, another way out. The window was second story.
    Dead. The word echoed through her mind. If she were dead, there would be nothing, none of the grief cleaving her heart in two. Shaking, she sunk onto the bed. Is that why I can’t remember? Her brain felt fried, overloaded.
    She stared at the door, too numb to cry. There was nothing to do but wait for it to be opened.

CHAPTER 11
    T he hesitant rapping on wood was enough to pull her out of the fugue state she’d passed the night in. Eden bolted upright just as the door clicked open.
    A guy peered around the door, not bothering to hide his stare while he sized her up. Eden returned the favor. Shaggy brown hair, maybe a few years older than her. Jeans and a T-shirt for some band she’d