Blood Charged (Dragon Blood, Book 3) by Lindsay Buroker Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Lindsay Buroker
Tags: General Fiction
this man know what members of his team Ridge was choosing to take on this new mission? He hadn’t told anyone except Sardelle yet, had he? Unless Ahnsung had been spying on them while they’d been walking. If so, he was good. She hadn’t sensed a thing. Jaxi hadn’t warned her, either.
I was busy picking up pots and picture frames. And might I point out how lowly a task that is for someone with my talent? You’d think I was someone’s apprentice.
Those years of demeaning tasks shouldn’t be so far back in your memory. You were barely past your apprenticeship when you stored yourself in the soulblade.
Please, I’d been a full-fledged sorcerer for years.
I did look up your history before we bonded, Sardelle pointed out. You hadn’t even finished your final papers.
Because I knew I was dying by then. As if I was going to waste my last months writing papers when there were enemies to turn to ash.
Ah, my apologies.
Jaxi seemed to have come to terms with the shortness of her life long before Sardelle had met her, but every now and then, a sense of wistfulness or regret slipped past the sarcastic irreverence.
“If you take her to Cofahre,” Ahnsung said, “I’ll hold you responsible for her.”
“I consider myself responsible for all of my pilots,” Ridge said.
“I also consider you responsible for the fact that she’s running around with that—” the man’s lips twisted into a much more open sneer than the earlier one, “— pirate .” Sardelle didn’t need a sorcerer’s talent for telepathy to know that wasn’t the first word that had come to his mind.
“I don’t see how I can be responsible for who she’s involved with—”
“If you hadn’t let her get shot down, she never would have been a prisoner of war.” Ahnsung leaned forward, pointing at Ridge’s nose. “She never would have met that beast.”
“I wasn’t there when she was shot down. I was following my orders to be elsewhere. Even if I had been there, this is a dangerous job, and it’s possible that something will happen someday, something I can’t stop. You’d better reconcile yourself to that. Or, here’s a thought: why don’t you talk to her about her work and who she’s sleeping with?”
Ridge was tense. Ahnsung was tenser.
Sardelle loosened the barriers she usually kept around her mind, both for her sanity and to give other people their privacy, trying to get a feel for what Ahnsung intended to do, besides scowl. Was he truly a danger?
His mind was more schooled than Sardelle would have expected from the glacial expression fixed on Ridge, and he didn’t give away much, at least on a surface reading. She did catch Tolemek’s face floating around in his thoughts. This confrontation had more to do with Cas’s new friend than the danger she might be in from Ridge’s new mission. Sardelle didn’t dare dig deeper. Aside from the morality issue, some people could sense sorcerers poking around in their thoughts.
He’s a sniper, and he wouldn’t mind putting a hole into your lover’s chest—they seem to have a history of arguments. Even if she had been young—and hadn’t bothered with those final papers—Jaxi had been a more skilled telepath than Sardelle ever would be, and she could slip into and out of another’s thoughts without alerting them, usually even when dealing with sorcerers. Not that they encountered many of those these days. It seems he doesn’t randomly kill people, though. Only if he’s paid. He has contemplated finding someone to pay him to shoot Colonel Zirkander.
Sardelle clenched her hand into a fist. Ridge wouldn’t appreciate having a woman protect him in a fight, but that wouldn’t stop her from doing it if he was in danger. Why?
Because Ridge was the one to encourage his daughter to join the military, and he backed her up when she wanted to attend flight school. Ahnsung wanted her to follow in his footsteps. Join the family business.
The family business? Shooting
I was busy picking up pots and picture frames. And might I point out how lowly a task that is for someone with my talent? You’d think I was someone’s apprentice.
Those years of demeaning tasks shouldn’t be so far back in your memory. You were barely past your apprenticeship when you stored yourself in the soulblade.
Please, I’d been a full-fledged sorcerer for years.
I did look up your history before we bonded, Sardelle pointed out. You hadn’t even finished your final papers.
Because I knew I was dying by then. As if I was going to waste my last months writing papers when there were enemies to turn to ash.
Ah, my apologies.
Jaxi seemed to have come to terms with the shortness of her life long before Sardelle had met her, but every now and then, a sense of wistfulness or regret slipped past the sarcastic irreverence.
“If you take her to Cofahre,” Ahnsung said, “I’ll hold you responsible for her.”
“I consider myself responsible for all of my pilots,” Ridge said.
“I also consider you responsible for the fact that she’s running around with that—” the man’s lips twisted into a much more open sneer than the earlier one, “— pirate .” Sardelle didn’t need a sorcerer’s talent for telepathy to know that wasn’t the first word that had come to his mind.
“I don’t see how I can be responsible for who she’s involved with—”
“If you hadn’t let her get shot down, she never would have been a prisoner of war.” Ahnsung leaned forward, pointing at Ridge’s nose. “She never would have met that beast.”
“I wasn’t there when she was shot down. I was following my orders to be elsewhere. Even if I had been there, this is a dangerous job, and it’s possible that something will happen someday, something I can’t stop. You’d better reconcile yourself to that. Or, here’s a thought: why don’t you talk to her about her work and who she’s sleeping with?”
Ridge was tense. Ahnsung was tenser.
Sardelle loosened the barriers she usually kept around her mind, both for her sanity and to give other people their privacy, trying to get a feel for what Ahnsung intended to do, besides scowl. Was he truly a danger?
His mind was more schooled than Sardelle would have expected from the glacial expression fixed on Ridge, and he didn’t give away much, at least on a surface reading. She did catch Tolemek’s face floating around in his thoughts. This confrontation had more to do with Cas’s new friend than the danger she might be in from Ridge’s new mission. Sardelle didn’t dare dig deeper. Aside from the morality issue, some people could sense sorcerers poking around in their thoughts.
He’s a sniper, and he wouldn’t mind putting a hole into your lover’s chest—they seem to have a history of arguments. Even if she had been young—and hadn’t bothered with those final papers—Jaxi had been a more skilled telepath than Sardelle ever would be, and she could slip into and out of another’s thoughts without alerting them, usually even when dealing with sorcerers. Not that they encountered many of those these days. It seems he doesn’t randomly kill people, though. Only if he’s paid. He has contemplated finding someone to pay him to shoot Colonel Zirkander.
Sardelle clenched her hand into a fist. Ridge wouldn’t appreciate having a woman protect him in a fight, but that wouldn’t stop her from doing it if he was in danger. Why?
Because Ridge was the one to encourage his daughter to join the military, and he backed her up when she wanted to attend flight school. Ahnsung wanted her to follow in his footsteps. Join the family business.
The family business? Shooting