Kindred Spirit - Noah Harris Page 0,19

here?

Levi jerked in surprise. “Jesus, Lou.”

What?

“Are you sure you’re not able to read my mind? Because I swear to God, if you’ve been able to do it all these years, I’m going to fucking riot.”

There was a reverberating chuckle.

No, I can’t hear your thoughts. And I’m glad. I can only imagine what I’d hear.

“Oh, kiss my ass,” Levi huffed.

Yeah, pretty sure if I could read your mind, I’d hear about all the things you want Jacob to do to your ass.

Levi sputtered. “Inappropriate! We talked about that.”

Doesn’t mean I’m not right.

Not the point, and Lou damn well knew it. “Look, to go back to your original question, completely ignoring what else you said, I don’t know.”

Lingering for too long in one place was always a bad idea. As much as Levi wished he could sit in one place, settle down, and build a real life, he couldn’t afford to. Not if he wanted to stay alive.

Ever since the fire, when he was six, Levi had been constantly on the run, hiding from anyone trying to find him. When it came down to it, they weren’t really interested in him so much as they were Louis. The two of them came as a package deal, however, and if they got Levi, they got Lou. Whether or not that would end like they wanted it too was a whole different story.

Memory sparked to life, dragging forth the images from over a decade before. The lonely road had been littered with the pieces of federal vehicles. Smoke billowed up into the sky from several destroyed cars, flames licking up into the sky despite the rain drizzling down. And there was Levi, standing in the middle of the road, shoulders hunched, gazing upon the discarded and lost weapons, the cooling cartridges. And far too many unmoving bodies sprawled on the road, in the ditch, hanging out of cars.

Lev?

His friend’s voice was so close that if he’d been corporeal, Levi would have felt the gust of breath against his ear. He shook himself, forcing a smile on his face at the concern in Lou’s voice. How strange to think that a being capable of such carnage was also the last thing in existence who cared so deeply for him. Strange and a little terrifying.

“Sorry, zoned out,” Levi said sheepishly.

I’ll say. You’ve been sitting in the parking lot, staring at his door for five minutes.

Levi blinked, realizing that they were, in fact, sitting in the parking lot, facing Jacob’s door. He could only hope the man hadn’t taken a glance out the window at the sound of his approaching truck and seen him staring like an idiot.

Daydreaming before you see the guy again? That’s pretty sad.

“I wasn’t,” Levi began, then shook his head. “I’m not getting into this again Lou, stop it.”

Or what?

Or nothing, that was what. The only control Levi had over Lou was the same he’d have over any other person. He could ask, beg, argue, and threaten all he wanted, but at the end of the day, Lou was his own person. If he didn’t want to stop, then he wouldn’t, and the best Levi could hope for was to distract him with something else.

“And I thought you didn’t like him anyway,” Levi shot at the spirit.

I don’t.

“Then why are you even talking about him?”

Because it’s funny.

Levi had a choice of which of those things he could choose to address. In the end, going after the option that didn’t involve him being made fun of by someone he couldn’t swat was the better of the two.

“Why don’t you like him?” Levi asked, knowing full well what the real problem was.

Because something about him doesn’t add up.

“And you’re basing this on…?”

You were right. He doesn’t look like an artist. He doesn’t talk like one. And I’m sorry, but who comes out to the middle of nowhere to do a bit of painting? It doesn’t make sense.

“Or,” Levi said, pulling the keys from the ignition. “You just don’t like him because you never like anyone I try to be friends with.”

Friends. Right. That’s exactly what you want from him.

Levi refused to rise to the bait. “Which, if that was all I was doing, then why the hell do you have a problem with him?”

What’s that supposed to mean?

“It means you’ve never had a problem with any other guy I’ve tried to hook up with before, not unless they gave you a reason. Any friends? Sure, you get pissy and jealous, but not with people I’m