Blood Love (God Wars Book 4) by Connie Suttle Read Free Book Online

means Larentii. Gods. Saa Thalarr. Some wizards and warlocks. A few others, maybe."
    "The Elemaiya have a term for this," Ashe rose and raked fingers through his hair. "It's a myth to them," he added. "They call the one who holds this power Ri'Kita—the Changer."
    "Kalia is a pureblood Elemaiya," I said. "Kay was a quarter." Ashe's head jerked around and he stared at me. "Kalia's parents sold her when she was tiny to those fucking women who train girls for pedophiles," I gritted. "As soon as I'm able, I'm hunting those women down and making them dead."
    I didn't add that Hordace Cayetes, the criminal who'd purchased Kalia, was also on my radar, as were several others—Rezil Foculis and Q'And and Q'Ind Ribalo, to name three.
    "Dearest, there are others who need dispatching first," Graegar reminded me.
    "Yeah." My anger deflated, leaving me beyond weary.
    "How soon, Breanne? How soon can you help Kay?" Ashe had turned back to me again. Barrigar increased the volume of his trilling, making my eyes droop.
    "Don't know," I whispered before falling asleep.
    * * *
    "Traje, the next time I start to yell at anybody, punch me in the mouth," Ashe mumbled as he took a chair next to his Second.
    "Be happy to," Trajan nodded.
    "Try this," Fes set a slice of cake in front of Trajan, before cutting a second piece and offering it to Ashe.
    "This smells like heaven," Trajan grinned and cut into the cake with a fork.
    "It's really good—one of Reah's recipes," Fes grinned.
    "Oh, yeah, this is amazing," Trajan spoke around a second mouthful.
    "There's food?" Stellan walked in, followed by Trevor, Kooper and the reptanoids. Chazi, Bekzi and Perzi recognized Kooper as a lion snake shapeshifter from the beginning, and admired him greatly after he'd shifted for them earlier. All of them felt better, too, when Graegar came and explained that Breanne was sleeping and not in pain or distress.
    "Have a seat," Fes nodded toward barstools around the island. "We'll all have cake, coffee and talk."
    "How we get Bree back?" Chazi began.
    "Make feel strong?" Perzi expanded on his brother's question.
    "No idea, and I'd like that more than anything right now," Ashe sighed. "Cake's excellent, Fes. No offense, Bill."
    "None taken," Bill settled on a barstool and accepted a piece of cake. "I've been to Desh's on Tulgalan, remember? I still want to steal the fish recipe."
    "We can make it tomorrow if you want. I just need to get the fish."
    "Wait, I just had an idea," Trajan gripped Ashe's arm—hard.
    "Wow, that must have hurt," Trace walked in, grinning.
    "What?" Ashe asked.
    "Bring your cake—we'll go out to the groves," Trajan lifted his plate and fork.
    "Lead on," Ashe nodded. He and Trajan disappeared.
    * * *
    Ashe's Journal
    "You're not joking, are you?" I shook my head at Trajan.
    "Look, you're Strength, right? Isn't that what Bree needs? Strength?"
    "But how," I almost stuttered the words as it hit me. Breanne—physically, anyway—was vampire. If she took my blood—was it worth the effort?
    "What will it hurt? She'll only take a little—she gags otherwise," Trajan pointed out. "Last I heard from Charles and Jayson, you'll never know she's there. Until, well," Trajan didn't finish.
    "The climax, you mean?"
    "Yeah. Look, boss, you haven't had, uh," he floundered for a moment before giving up.
    "Not in a while," I agreed grimly. For me, sex didn't mean much unless I cared about the woman, and there'd been few of those through the years. Yes, I knew how. I'd studied it quite intensely between my seventeenth and thirty-fifth years. Practiced it too—after my twentieth birthday, Trajan and I had been in plenty of bars, from one end of the Alliances to the other. Women always approached us. Always .
    Both of us, however, had tired of casual sex. We'd begun waiting—hoping—for the one for us to come along. Kalia's face kept appearing in my mind throughout the years. I measured any woman I met against her and found them wanting.
    "Look, it won't be a big