BloodSworn by Stacey Brutger Read Free Book Online Page A

the
hallway.
    Away from danger.
    If Trina had any sense, she would’ve followed.
    “Where did you get that?”
    Trina shook her head. “Negotiations. What will you give me
for this information?”
    She half-expected him to reach over and rip the necklace
from her grip. He didn’t. If possible, his expression darkened even more. The
warrior had returned, his shirt stretching tight as his chest swelled.
    She noticed the previous cuts had melted into bruises, making
her eager to explore the rest of him. The way shifters healed fascinated her. She’d
bet that the curative was located in their blood, and she’d love to be able to
get her hand on some and run a few tests while she was there. Would love to
compare their blood to her own.
    There had to be a connection, something that she could use
to repress her abilities and allow her to remain hidden long enough to rescue
her sister.  
    “What do you want?” Those massive arms of his crossed over
his chest, and her eyes automatically swept over him with a delicious shiver of
lust and danger.
    She licked her lips, nervous as the tension in the room
built. “Two more weeks at the Den then another week before you tell anyone I
was here.”
    “Done.”
    Trina blinked at the automatic reply. When he went to swipe
the amulet, she pulled her arm back. “The magic wasn’t destroyed completely.
You have to be careful how you handle relics.”
    “What do you know?” The suspicious tone from the second man
pissed her off. There was an uncompromising hardness to him when he looked at
her, those cold eyes of his had her sidling closer toward Merrick. His straight,
shoulder-length hair was longer than most shifters, almost unkempt, as if it
were trying to defy him and not quite succeeding. If he’d been the one who’d
caught her on the property, she wouldn’t have been escorted through the front
door and definitely not conscious.
    “I didn’t plan the attack, if that’s what you think. They were
trying to kill me, too.”
    “And you didn’t have any trouble protecting yourself.”
    Trina’s lips tightened. “What was I supposed to do? Allow
them to skewer me? Oh, that’s right. They did.” She took a step toward him. “Where
the hell were you during the attack? They were waiting behind the wall for us.
It’s not my job to protect the Den.”
    Victor flinched as if she’d struck a blow. She wheeled
around to face Merrick. “A female wolf was the leader. The magic in this amulet
hid them somehow. If you give it to your Familiaran, they should be able to run
a trace and track.”
    Trina felt bad trading faulty information, but she hadn’t
exactly lied to them either. They wanted to know about the attack, and she told
them.
    She just didn’t tell them that the ambush was set for her.
It was just too coincidental that two magical attacks came within hours of each
other.
    If Merrick hadn’t been with her, she wasn’t sure she
would’ve sensed them soon enough to run. Witches, maybe. Not shifters. They
would’ve eventually hunted her down and taken her unless she resorted to using
magic. She gingerly touched the ache in her side, surprised at how fast she was
already healing. She should be grateful, but it meant that either the bonds
holding her magic were loosening or her powers were growing stronger. Soon,
there would be no hiding.
    “Why don’t you do it?”
    “What?” Trina glanced at Victor.
    “Trace and track?”
    Trina shook her head. “I’m not that kind of witch. Your pack
witch should be able to track the amulet to the wearer and back to the one who
created it.”
    A slow realization sank in at their blank expressions. “You
don’t have a witch.”
    “Can’t you ask one of your cursed friends?”
    “No.” Merrick was all Leo when he replied to Victor, and she
realized he was protecting her, living up to his part of their bargain already.
Only she wasn’t sure she believed that completely. “We don’t associate with the
coven, but if we ask,