Curio by Evangeline Denmark Read Free Book Online

lakes.
    â€œWhat is it? Tell me.”
    He traced the scabbed-over lines in her palm, the brightness of his expression fading to a glazed look. He whispered something under his breath. Grey leaned in to hear.
    â€œLove is magic in our veins. Love the hand of the punisher stays. Love heals what justice flays. Love defends and mercy reigns.”
    The words sank deep into Grey, humming with energy. Warmth flowed from Granddad’s fingertips where they touched her palm. Last night’s foreign courage returned, coursing through her body, stiffening her limbs, gliding like invisible armor to infuse every inch of her skin.
    â€œWhat does it mean?” Grey breathed.
    Granddad’s ice-blue eyes snapped into focus, but it was Haimon who spoke.
    â€œIs it worth it? You could lose her too.”
    â€œNot yet then. Not yet.” Granddad backed away and checked his pocket watch, a duplicate of Grey’s with a silver fist for a cover. He looked up. “Time to head home. Whit should be back by now.”

    It was everything Grey could do not to run to Whit’s door the moment they rounded the corner onto the dirt-packed lane.
    Granddad’s voice anchored her. “We shouldn’t risk more exposure with Adante so interested. Curfew’s not far off, and you should be seen entering your own home.”
    â€œWhat does Adante want with me?” Yesterday’s defiance made her a target, but there was more to it than that.
    â€œHaimon was right. We must be careful.” He stopped at the edge of their walkway and faced her. The shadow of Excelsior Peak leached the color from his hair and turned his skin to blue stone. “I promise I’ll tell you everything if your mother and father allow.”
    She nodded and dragged her feet to the front door. The light in the Bryacres’ window swept her questions into corners. All that mattered was seeing Whit.
    â€œMother? Father?” Grey shivered in the dark entryway.
    When neither answered her call, she moved to the parlor and pressed her cheek to the cold glass of the window, scanning for activity next door. Within minutes, Father ducked out of the Bryacres’ front door and strode over the adjoining lawns.
    Grey met him at the door. One look at his drawn face and her eyes burned with tears.
    â€œH-how bad?”
    He frowned and led her to the settee. Grey perched on the edge. He dropped into the seat beside her and adjusted his position to study her face. “Tell me exactly what happened last night.”
    Grey blurted the story, from the shortcut to the coywolves to the deputies, but left out the boldness that had tumbled through her like a rock slide.
    Father’s eyes narrowed. “That’s it? You’re sure?”
    Granddad paced in the kitchen, his arms crossed over his chest. His eyes questioned her too, but a fever light burned in their depths.
    Father’s expression twisted into a grief she recognized from the worst of his mountain excursions. “Grey, Josephine needs an explanation. They punished Whit as though this were his fourth or fifth offense, not his first.”
    A cracking sound split the quiet in the room. Granddad’s fingers clenched around the wood trim of the archway. “Haven’t I told you, Steinar?” He let go of the splintering timber and lunged to the center of the parlor. “Chemist greed will bleed this city dry.”
    Father stood, but Grey didn’t hear his words. Stinging numbness whipped around her heart. “Is Whit dying?”
    Both men turned to her. Father shook his head. “He should recover.” Relief seared her lungs only to be replaced by icy dread.
    â€œI have to go over there,” she choked out. “I need to see him.”
    Father’s face set in a cast of resistance but Granddad sprang toward the door. “I’ll check for patrols. Wait for my go ahead.”
    He disappeared into the twilight and Father stared after him, brows