B00JX4CVBU EBOK by Peter Joison Read Free Book Online Page A

whole life Brooke had dreamt of getting a spirit stallion or a wolf like the previous Wickerwell Vordene. She never once wished for a man. And it wasn’t just because she didn’t like guys, it was the whole having to share their house, their lives with a man. It would spoil everything the sisters had. Having this guy around for the rest of their lives. Ugh. It was wrong.
    And the way Ember was bloody well acting she’d probably hook up with him. Bitch. Always getting what she wanted. Well not this time.
    Brooke slowly removed the pillow from under the guy’s head. He hardly moved. She held it in her hands for a moment, looking down, and couldn’t help smiling. Like her sisters, Brooke had battled and killed many evil things in her life, this would just be another one. She moved the pillow over his head. He died in his sleep, oh what a shame. Choked on his tongue, silly drunk bugger.
    ‘Brooke?’
    Brooke jumped. ‘Ah!’ 
    It was Chloe.
    Chloe crossed to her sister. ‘I felt you from the other room. It … didn’t feel good. What are you doing with the pillow, hon?’
    Brooke quickly lifted the guy’s head and shoved the pillow back. Ugh! ‘It … had dropped to the floor, that’s all.’
    Chloe stared at her, concern on her face. ‘Brooke …’
    Brooke brushed past her sister, and out the door. ‘It’s OK, Chloe. It’s OK.’
    She half ran down the hall to the kitchen. 
    But it wasn’t OK, was it?
    *
    It was almost midnight. Outside, the manor was a glow-stone in fields of darkness. Inside, the five sisters and their aunt stood in a semi-circle around the old red sofa on which the unconscious young man still slept. Ember noticed a lump on his head just above his forehead. Yep, he’s definitely in for some pain when he wakes up.
    Celeste stood at one end of the sofa, her arms folded. She looked at her aunt. ‘Well, show us then, Aunt Lani.’
    Ember knew her sister wasn’t going to just believe Chloe and her Aunt without some proof. Aunt Lani had said she could feel the power of the Ring in the man, and now she was going to show them.
    ‘Yes dear. Like you I wasn’t really sure until I tucked him in. Then I felt it. I’d know it anywhere of course, as Beau had it. Our wolf.’
    ‘Why didn’t we feel it when we moved him to or from the car?’ asked Brooke, who stood leaning against the doorframe, her arms folded.
    Ember remembered the feeling and images she’d received when she had put her hand on his chest in the park. Ah, it made sense now. 
    ‘Probably because he’s out cold,’ said Aunt Lani, ‘plus like I said, I’ve had a lot of experience with the power of a Ring. But let me magnify what I can feel for you.’
    She knelt down next to the quietly snoring man and laid her hands on his chest. ‘Now focus on me girls. My, this takes me back. Remember doing things like this with us when you were little?’
    The room went quiet. Ember knew the others were remembering Aunt Gay and Aunt Aura: the other two Aunts who had helped raise the girls.
    Aunt Lani closed her eyes. ‘Oh yes. Feel it? Feel it?’
    Ember did. And by the look on her sister’s faces they did too. It was the feeling of warm beds, old oaks and faraway thunderstorms. Of safety and protection. Its strength enveloped them like giant firm hands.
    ‘Oh my God,’ said Celeste.
    Ember heard Chloe sob. ‘I feel so whole. So strong.’
    ‘Yes,’ agreed Ember. Yes . It was if their orchestra had been playing all these years without a percussion section, and boom , here it was. A massive deep beat that now infused and lifted all of their music.
    Ember felt a strength, a surety of being that she had never felt before. She knew with this Ring by their side her Vordene would be stronger, and more resistant to Scather attack.
    A rapid, loud knocking at the front door made the sisters jump.
    ‘Who? What? Why didn’t we feel them coming?’ asked Brooke.
    ‘We were kind of busy, Brooke,’ said Ember.
    Celeste stood, faced the door