Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) by Stephanie Rowe Read Free Book Online Page B

strode past her. He swept her backpack off the floor and yanked open the front door. “Out.”
    She didn’t move, digging her fingernails into the palm of her hands at the hostile expression on Quinn’s face. His eyes were cold and harsh, a reflection of the Calydon warrior he was. A man who had killed many, and never flinched.
    She lifted her chin and let him see the truth in her face as to why she was here, why she’d picked him . “In case you haven’t heard the news out here in the woods, your teammate Elijah Ross was found murdered last night. I think my sister did it.”
    * * *
     
    Quinnfelt like she’d sucker-punched him in the gut. “Elijah’s dead?”
    She nodded. “Yes, I’m so sorry.”
    “No.” Impossible. He would have known that, wouldn’t he? Yeah, he’d blocked his connection with Elijah because he didn’t want his blood brother to know he’d survived the attack until he was ready to use their connection to hunt him down, but he was damn sure he would have sensed Elijah’s death. He folded his arms over his chest, suspicions glaring in his mind as he quickly recovered from the shock of her words. What was Grace trying to pull? “He’s not dead.”
    “I wasn’t sure you’d believe me, so I brought the paper...” Keeping a wary eye on him, she held out her hand for her backpack, which he still gripped in his fist.
    “I’ll check.” He unzipped the bag, jumping at the chance to see if he could learn anything about this woman who’d read his damn mind and nearly gotten herself seduced when she’d curled up on his bed in that comforter, looking so damn vulnerable and sexy he’d nearly forgotten everything that mattered. Like, you know, saving his blood brother, redeeming his uncle’s death, fulfilling his life’s mission, and, of course, staying the hell away from any woman who could be his sheva.
    Inside the black nylon bag, a folded newspaper was wedged down beside a pair of jeans and a pair of thick socks. He caught a whiff of her scent from the clothes, and his groin hardened instantly. Hell. He’d been in a constant state of arousal since he’d first scented her, and it was making him jumpy as hell.
    He needed to chill. It was most likely a simple explanation. It’d been too damn long since he’d been with a woman, and she was the one who was here. That was it. Nothing else.
    The need for women pulsed hot in the veins of all Calydons, but any female they took up with could be their sheva , so many tried to stay away, despite the burning passion that drove them. It was a constant battle that few Calydons could win over the long term. Like Quinn’s fellow Order member Ian, who’d taken the risk one too many times and wound up meeting his sheva , nearly dying for his mistake. Quinn swore, still pissed at how Ian’s situation had unraveled. It was another strike against his theory, against the odds of succeeding on the mission that had galvanized him for five hundred years.
    Quinn had held off women for a long time, and the urge to grab Grace and sink himself into her was pulsing so hard and so deep that he could barely restrain himself.
    Lust. Simple damn lust.
    That was all he could afford for it to be, because he had much more important shit to deal with right now.
    He let her bag drop to his feet and opened the newspaper. Dated today, Elijah’s mug shot was on the front page, and Quinn stared into the eyes of the man he knew so well. The teammate who’d pulled him from death countless times, who knew secrets about him no one else did.
    Quinn traced his thumb over the black and white image as he carefully unwound the mental shields he’d erected and opened his mind to his blood brother. Elijah. You with me?
    There was no response. Not even a pulse of energy. Simply, emptiness. Like Elijah had never existed. Quinn had connected with Elijah at the attack, but he hadn’t been able to pull anything on him since he’d woken up. Not a damn thing, for the first time since