Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane Page A

easy to read? “Yeah, fine.”
“I need to talk to you,” Doyle said. He smoothed his hair out of his face. “It’s important.”
He clearly didn’t intend to leave until they’d spoken, so Chess sighed and stood up. “Five minutes.”
    Chapter Ten

    “There is much humanity cannot comprehend. The Church comprehends for you.”
    — The Book of Truth , Veraxis, Article 2

Doyle pulled her uncomfortably close to the spot where she’d seen Terrible and Amy, hidden in the shadows of the building. “So, how’s your new case going?”
“You dragged me out here for that?”
“You wouldn’t talk to me in church. You wouldn’t talk to me at the meeting. What else am I supposed to do?”
“Get the message that I don’t want to talk?”
“Chess…you can’t seriously be avoiding me because some people found out about us. So what? What difference does it make?”
She took a step back as he leaned closer. “There is no us , Doyle. One night doesn’t make an us .”
“It makes something.”
“Yeah, it makes me a whore in the eyes of everyone I work with. What happens if the Elders find out? What do I do then?”
“You’re not underage anymore, you haven’t been for three years. They’re not going to kick you out.” His hands rested on her shoulders, warm and heavy. “I know you had it rougher than the rest of us did in training. I know how you were scrutinized because you were on charity. I was there, remember? But you’re an employee now, not a ward. You even live off-complex. You can spend the night with whomever you choose.”
“I wasn’t on charity. I was on a scholarship.”
“Sorry. Point is…I really like you. I think we could have something special, if you’d let us.”
His fingers curled under her chin, lifting her face. Doyle was only five-ten or so; with her heels on they were almost of a height. She didn’t have to move at all for his lips to find hers.
He was a good kisser. She’d liked kissing him before, and she still liked it, despite her doubts about him. But when his hands slid farther down to circle her waist, then down again to cup her bottom and pull her closer, she broke away.
“I don’t think I’m ready for this.” Her voice shook a little. Damn it.
Doyle bit his lip and looked down, then back up. “Okay.”
“What do you mean, okay?”
“Just what I said. Okay. I can’t pretend to understand it. It’s not like we haven’t already done a lot more than we just did. But I want to do this right, and if that means waiting, or giving you space or whatever, I’ll do that.”
He certainly looked sincere, with those big blue eyes focused right on her. Maybe this really was her problem. It didn’t make logical sense to distrust Doyle. She’d known him for years. If she were honest with herself, she could admit she’d had a bit of a crush on him, off and on throughout those years. And the sex…it may not have been life-changing, but it definitely hadn’t sucked.
He must have sensed her indecision. “Why don’t we go back to your place and talk, okay? Have a drink, watch some TV or something and just…talk?”
No was on the tip of her tongue, but she caught herself. What else was she going to do? Sit in a booth and watch Terrible and Amy practically having sex? Take another Cept and watch everyone else chatting with their friends, having a good time, from behind the glassy wall of narcotic peace?
Or go home, and wander around her apartment by herself until she finally fell asleep in front of the TV?
Doyle was decent company, if nothing else. They had plenty to talk about. They knew the same people.
“Come on, Chess. I promise I won’t try anything. It’ll be like having a eunuch over for the evening.”
Chess laughed in spite of herself. “Okay. But no late night. I’m tired.”

It was the wrong thing to do. She didn’t want him here.
Chatting about Church politics and telling stories had been fine on the street, when the soft darkness wrapped around them and their