Absolution by LJ DeLeon Read Free Book Online

Dead.”
    The months Luc had spent with Farley’s squads reinforced how quickly fear of change turned to loathing and then to violence in a misguided need to hold their world and maintain their place in it. Fear of losing their pathetic little patch of ground in these poverty-infested mountains affected a quick and permanent shift in some norms. The change, ugly and foul.
    As for Earl, if Fritz was correct, that hint of demon in his genes had only needed this opportunity to rise to the forefront.
    Luc watched Earl check out the SUV. The man glanced over his shoulder at him, ignoring or not seeing Rice leaning against the SUV’s front fender.
    “Where’re Ted and Crocker?”
    Rice used the distraction as an opportunity to grasp Earl’s head and jerk it with the same sharp twist he had used on Ted. “Dead, like you.”
    “Fritz said Earl has...had some demon in him. You sure that’s going to kill him?”
    “Yeah, but to make sure, I’ll stab through the heart with this.” Rice lifted a curved obsidian blade. “Abyss-made for executions.”
    “I’ll join you in a few.” Luc entered in the cabin. Each of the healer’s wrists and ankles were secured to a two-foot log. Earl had followed Brotherhood procedure. Keep hands and legs separated. She wasn’t going anywhere, not without the ability to move and perform her magick.
    At a movement beneath her eyelids, his gaze narrowed. He inhaled and froze. Darkness below, she was Fae and could escape her bindings and teleport out of here. Once she disappeared into the ether, they’d never find her again. If Farley sent out another Earl, another family might die and the healer could end up shot and paralyzed per the original plan. Farley had already said he didn’t need her mobile, only her magick intact.
    Initially, that statement hadn’t made sense. Now Luc understood.
    How he was going to save her was beyond him. He released her bonds, re raised his hands, drawing energy from deep within the Earth, and cocooned her in an invisible, unbreakable web, imprinting it with his family seal.
    Surprise filled him at the ease in creating this status. He’d expected resistance. Even if she were unconscious, her magick should have fought his for freedom.
    He stared down at her, his eyes narrowed. Something about the woman felt familiar, soul deep, and she...it...whatever, pulled at him. He shook off his response to her and continued with his protection. Once completed, he moved back.
    Luc frowned and covered her with a crazy quilt. She now lay curled in a ball. The knock on her head worried him. Her skin was too pale, and her bones too delicate for the abuse Earl had inflicted. At least the stasis field should keep any internal bleeding at bay for a while.
    He refused to touch her skin and forced himself to view her as a captive, though he took twice as long as necessary to ensure she suffered no harm. Familiar or not, he had to deliver her. For now, his sigil would keep all others away; keep her from harm. Only he or his death could release her.

CHAPTER 6
     
     
    “Grab him and let’s go.” Luc headed for the woods.
    “How is she?” Rice threw Earl’s body over his shoulder in a fireman hold without so much as a grunt.
    “Alive. I’ll help her once we’re back. For now, I’ve released her, but secured her in a stasis field.”
    A few minutes later, they strode up to Fritz. “Toss his body there,” Luc ordered. “While we fight, I’ll be Crocker. Fritz can drop his body wherever you drop me. Then we’ll repeat the process with you being Ted. We’ll explain Earl was their partner. I was barely conscious when you took him from behind before he blew me away. Don’t hold back, we need evidence, injuries of a fight to the death.”
    “You got it, Druid boy.” Rice unsheathed his knife. “You do remember how Ted loved his knife fights.”
    “Shit.” With a wicked grin, Luc clicked the safety off his Sig Sauer. “And I do love my guns, just like