Boundary Crossed (Boundary Magic Book 1) by Melissa F. Olson Read Free Book Online Page B

witch problem now,” Quinn said cheerfully. “No skin off my nose.”
    Without waiting for a response, I took off for the house as fast as I could, which turned out to be at a sort of mincing trot. I could feel a pull in my back from the stitches. They would need to come out soon, I realized, but although I felt weak and run down, my condition was worlds better than when I’d woken up in the hospital that morning.
    When I reached the stoop, I didn’t bother trying to be sneaky. The baby was screaming too loudly for me to hear anything anyway. Instead I just threw open the unlocked front door and beelined toward the first-floor bedroom, the guest room off the kitchen. John was smart—that was the room with the heaviest door and the smallest window. It was where I would have holed up, too.
    When I rounded the doorway to the back hall, though, Darcy was nowhere near the guest room door. I froze. Could she have given up? Gone outside to help Victor with Simon and Quinn? Or was she waiting to ambush me? Then Charlie took a deep breath, and in the tiny pause I heard a clinking sound in the kitchen, like someone shaking a piggy bank.
    I darted forward, past the locked bedroom door and all the way into the kitchen. The blonde woman from the Depot was standing in my brother-in-law’s kitchen, rifling through the junk drawer in the counter island. She had fished out three keys so far and had them lined up on the counter in front of her. Crap . I’d known John my whole life, and he would never have a lock in his house without also having the corresponding key. One of those was going to work.
    Quietly, I moved to put myself between Darcy and the bedroom door. Apparently satisfied with her find, Darcy collected the keys and started back toward the bedroom, which is when she spotted me.
    “Oh, great ,” she yelled, over the sound of Charlie’s wails. “The girl with the weird blood. Of course you’re here.”
    She took a few steps toward me. “Hey, Darcy.” I stalked forward to meet her, which she wasn’t expecting. “Rough night? Me too.”
    She opened her mouth to yell something back, and I slammed my left fist into her nose.
    It collapsed with a very satisfying wet crunch, and Darcy shrieked with pain, staggering backward, away from the bedroom door. I shook out my hand discreetly, but my own pain wasn’t bad. I’d gotten my weight behind the punch. Her eyes went wide with shock as she held her fingers up to her nose, then examined them in disbelief.
    That stopped me for a moment and seemed to confirm my suspicion that the vampire thing was bullshit. I’d broken someone’s nose before, and Darcy’s had felt just like anyone else’s. And now she was bleeding like anyone else. Liberally.
    Regaining her balance, Darcy swung at me, a clumsy roundhouse that I easily blocked with my right forearm as I jabbed with my left. Same spot. She screamed in pain and frustration and kicked out at me. I turned my body to take the kick in the side. It stung, but no more than any other kick would. No, she wasn’t some superpowered creature of the night. She was just a deranged kidnapper. And that I could fight.
    Encouraged, I launched myself at Darcy, throwing my upper body into her chest and riding her to the ground. I pinned her with a forearm under her throat. Her eyes bulged as she reached for my hair. I slapped her hand down with my free arm. Blood streamed from her nose down her cheeks and into her expensively highlighted hair. “Let me be clear,” I said coldly. “I will always come for that baby. Always. And if I ever see either you or your boyfriend again, I will not hesitate to break your fucking necks. Do you believe me?”
    Darcy made another grab for my hair. I slapped her down again and dug my forearm harder into her neck. Adrenaline churned in my bloodstream. “I said, do you believe me ?”
    Glaring at me, she nodded.
    “Why her?” I demanded. “What do you want with Charlie?”
    Her cold facade broke, and she