Bloodspell by Amalie Howard Read Free Book Online

abilities. The thought of Lucian rose unbidden in his mind, and he shoved it away. He knew
exactly

what Lucian would do with her.
    He took out his cell phone and turned it between his fingers, his face brooding. Christian remembered the touch of her fingers on his own and the electricity that had coursed between them. He'd barely been able to contain himself, and all he could think about was placing his lips in the delicate curve of her neck, taking and taking until he couldn't take any more. The thought of it had almost driven him to his knees. Very deliberately, Christian placed the cell phone back into his pocket.
    Everything in him knew that it was a mistake. He should call Lucian, and let him assess the threat, because now he knew without a doubt that there was one. Her power was too raw ... too dangerous.
    He should walk away before he was pulled any deeper or jeopardized far more than just himself. But still, even as he thought the words, a part of him recognized that it was too late. Far too late.
    They

would already know.

SHE SHOULD HAVE said no. But if she was really being honest with herself, she had wanted to say yes. When they touched, she'd been shocked by the connection between them. Victoria had known there was something there—she'd felt that spark from the moment they had first met that day in the Admissions Office.
    Yet, despite the fact that Christian Devereux was so charismatic and made her heart race, something felt wrong. When he looked at her with those eerie light eyes of his, she felt rattled and on edge. Not to mention what she'd done to him just by thinking about it. Her throat tightened at the memory. Her palms tingled and she felt a familiar heaviness stir in the pit of the belly, the same sensations she'd fought months ago, the ones she'd thought were dead and gone.
    Embrace it.
    Victoria almost jumped out of her skin as the phantom thought invaded her head. Exhaustion was making her remember things that she'd prefer remain ancient history. She shook it off and sighed, leaning back against the sofa and watching Leto lying on the top edge of the cushions. She stroked his ears as he watched her intently out of one eye, and resorted to her familiar means of making sense of her feelings.
    "I don't know why I said yes," she murmured to him. "He's arrogant, and rude, and irritating." She sighed, a soft smile on her lips turning onto her side to face Leto. "But you should hear him on the piano, he's amazing. Reminded me of New York." Leto curled his head into her palm. "Mom would have loved hearing him." Her words slowed. "Maybe that's why I said yes. Anyone who plays like that can't be all bad, right?"
    Victoria stared out the window behind the sofa and curled her legs beneath her, her fingers still lingering in Leto's fur. She wrestled with her thoughts.
    "But that's not the whole reason. I don't know how but"—she hesitated again, a shiver passing through her—"it happened again. And it's just strange that he didn't react like I thought he would ... like the others."
    Leto's head turned toward her and for a second, she felt a strange sensation as if he'd heard her. She could feel a sense of concern that wasn't her own. She frowned dismissing it, and continued her monologue.
    "I mean, he's not stupid. It's unnatural to be able to move whole
people

around without touching them." She studied her hands as if they held the answer, frowning. "It was like invisible hands just reached out of my chest and shoved him backward."
    This time there was no mistaking the response. Leto stared at her so hard that every hair on the back of her neck stood at nervous attention.
    "Why are you staring at me like that?" she blurted without thinking.
    Leto growled, holding her gaze disconcertingly, once again compelling her to grasp at something that was just beyond her reach. Given the last few months, she shouldn't have been surprised by anything, and after the existentialist episode with Christian, it didn't seem