Bladed Magic by J.C. Daniels Read Free Book Online Page B

of my mind, I heard a soothing murmur. My sword, whispering to me.  All is well, child…all is well. I am here…
    A weird refrain for her. I was more used to the words… Call me, I am here . She came to my call when I needed her, something I’d learned when I’d been trapped in the dirt, gasping for air and begging for an escape that I knew didn’t exist.
    Except it had.
    But she didn’t seem to think I needed her.
    Maybe I didn’t. This peacock was annoying, but I didn’t think he was dangerous. Not to me at least.
    A queer smile lit his eyes and he just continued to watch me. “I knew something was under all those nerves you wear like a second skin. You ready to come out and play or not?”
    Play?
    “You think this is a game?” I curled a hand into a fist. Surprise ricocheted through me as I realized something—I wanted to punch him. Arrogant, cocky piece of work.
    “No. It’s not a game—it’s a hunt and you want in on it as much as I do.”
    He was right. I knew it. Not that I’d tell him but he was right. And I still wanted to punch him.
    Something of that must have shown on my face because he laughed. Quick as a wish, he reached out and cupped my chin. Something hot shivered through my veins as his thumb pressed against my lips. “Keep that thought, Kitty-kitty. You and I can go a round after we catch this son of a bitch.”
    I curled my lip at him, jerking out of his reach. “I’m starting to think I’d rather not mess with you. Maybe I should try to do it all by myself.”
    “Oh, really?” He cocked his head, green eyes all but laughing at me. “You think you can? You’ve never done anything but hunt down a couple of rats and you knew where they’d go to ground. This is a different beast entirely.”
    “Then maybe you should tell me about him instead of baiting me.” I looked back at the house and asked again, “Did he bring them here?”
    There was a brief hesitation and then Justin said quietly, “Yes.”
    “How many?” I had to force the question through stiff lips. Some part of my mind demanded, What does it matter?   But the rest of me already knew why it mattered. A hunter needed to know her prey. Maybe my family had never taught me about what I was. But I’d still learned, bits and pieces.
    “I’m still trying to figure it out, but I think he probably had a good ten victims over the years. Only six of them have figured it out.”
    Ten …
    It hurt my heart, twisted my gut, turned my vision red.
    “Tell me more.”
     
     
    The house was clean, almost disturbingly so.
    I caught the scent of magic and it had me pausing to look at Justin as we stood in the doorway.
    “What am I smelling?” I asked softly. Sometimes I hated that TJ was right so often. Like now. If I’d listened to what she’d been telling me, maybe I could have figured this out on my own.
    He glanced at me and shrugged. “I had to do some clean up in case people came by. It’s just an echo.”
    “An echo.”
    “Yeah.” Justin frowned. “Man, you really aren’t around magic much, are you?”
    He didn’t bother waiting for me to answer, or maybe it didn’t matter. He headed on into the house and stopped at an angle, staring into a room I couldn’t yet see. “I killed the wolf. It got messy. I had to clean up so you’re picking up on the echo of the magic I used. If you’re sensitive to it, magic has a scent, a feel, all its own and each different form of magic is different.”
    “So I’m basically smelling your version of spring cleaning.”
    He shot me that wide grin again. “In a sense.”
    Moving to stand at his side, I studied the wide open space. I guessed it would be the living room. I’d never had a house. Until I’d moved to TJ’s, I’d never had my own space, period. The space I had now consisted of a room. But Colleen had a house—a wide-open one, bright and cheery.
    It felt nothing like this place.
    Her home felt of life and laughter. Even with Mandy gone, I could feel the hope