Demon Storm: Belador book 5 by Dianna Love Read Free Book Online Page A

closest friends. The two people who knew more than anything what this meant to Evalle.
    What was wrong? Why weren’t they winking at her and smiling? What could have those two so upset?
    Oh, besides the love of Quinn’s life stepping between him and death to suffer being gutted, only to die in his arms? Or Tzader racing into the castle to protect Brina, only to have the ward almost kill him–correction, it did kill him–and come back to life to find nothing but her holographic image left?
    Tzader had never told Evalle, but she’d seen enough to suspect that Brina was far more to Tzader than just the warrior queen of the Beladors.
    Yeah, her two best friends were suffering. Celebrating on her part could sit on the back burner until their worlds were better.
    That wouldn’t happen for Tzader until they found Brina.
    As for Quinn, Evalle had no idea how to console someone for the kind of loss he’d suffered. There would be no consoling her if Storm had died in her arms. She couldn’t even think about that without her heart having spasms.
    Macha was going on about how they would stand strong in the face of the damage the Medb had done to their tribe. They would return Brina to the castle and, moving forward, that changes would be made to insure her safety and protect the Belador power base.
    Got it, Macha. Can you move this along a little faster?
    Macha paused and her gaze tracked to Evalle.
    Oh, hell. She couldn’t have heard that thought, could she?
    Irritating Macha again before teleporting was a good way to end up flung back to Atlanta like a ragdoll thrown through a wood chipper, and Evalle didn’t need encouragement to toss her cookies even on a smooth ride.
    She teleported about as well as Macha accepted criticism.
    Not a pretty scene.
    “Now we face an even greater battle,” Macha went on, talking about what came next. “Many of you suffer intermittent or non-existent powers as do other Beladors across the world. Preternatural criminals are attacking Beladors, which means the word about our power base being weak is traveling quickly.”
    There had never been a plan for ending up with only an empty-eyed hologram of Brina inside the castle. It had happened when a Belador traitor had tossed deadly Noirre majik dust on Brina.
    Macha wrapped it up by saying, “Maistir Tzader Burke of North America will decide who stays here and who returns to the mortal world.”
    Maybe Evalle could hitch a teleportation ride back with a group without having to draw Macha’s attention to her specifically.
    When Macha disappeared and the crowd began to disperse, Evalle turned to Tristan. She was ready to go, but had to make sure she didn’t come back to fallout from him irritating Macha.
    The gryphons flocked on the lawn, a herd of giants whose bodies would glisten beneath the sun back home. Evalle wouldn’t mind some sunshine, but none shone in the sky above Treoir.
    In Atlanta, she’d lived in the dark, because the sun would burn the flesh from her body. But that had changed when she morphed all the way into a gryphon.
    Please tell me this is a permanent change and I will never be relegated to living in the dark again.
    Evalle decided to take a positive tack and compliment Tristan on his good behavior to set the right tone for discussing what he had to do. She smiled to sell it. “Thank you for accepting Macha’s offer. She might not deserve forgiveness, but the Beladors deserve to have all of us in the tribe. And now Alterants evolved into gryphons and any other Alterants still out there can have a life.”
    “I’m not stupid, Evalle. The Medb know we betrayed them during the battle and VIPER won’t allow us to survive without a pantheon. It was a win-win. For now.”
    She did not like the sound of those last two words. So much for being subtle. “Don’t screw this up, Tristan. You have your sister and your two friends to keep safe.”
    “I’m not doing anything, so don’t get your panties in a wad. When can we