Fateful 2-Fractured by Cheri Schmidt Read Free Book Online

go.”
    “No!” Danielle said, but with too much
volume. She may have woken Brianna with that outburst, but she was
growing frantic, she didn’t want Ethan to leave and go looking for
Alex. Not to mention his presence was comforting for her as the
reality of what nearly happened sank in.
    Max frowned as he glanced toward the closed
door. “The others are stirring. There’s been too much commotion in
here. We need to get out of sight.”
    Neither Danielle nor Ethan moved.
    After exhaling a groan, Max then moved at
vampire speed to clear the room before the others came in. He shut
the windows. He pried Danielle’s grip from Ethan, set her in the
bed, and pulled the sheets over her. Grabbed Ethan by the arms and
shoved him in the closet. Snatched up her school books and set them
in a disheveled pattern on the floor next to the corner of her bed,
pointed at them, and said, “You kicked these off in your sleep by
mistake.” He then disappeared into the closet with Ethan. He’d
actually moved around the room so fast that he created a draft that
tossed Danielle’s hair across her face when he disappeared.
    Only seconds later her bedroom door
opened.
    “Danielle, are you all right? I’ve heard
some thumping noises, and I thought I heard voices.” It was
Brianna.
    Danielle sighed while pushing her hair out
of the way. She kept disturbing her family in the middle of the
night, and she realized, they just might send her home early for
causing lack of sleep. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left my books
on the end of my bed. I kicked them off while I was sleeping … and
I think I was talking in my sleep again. All is well.” At least the
part about her being sorry was true. She still hated lying. The
guilt twisted her insides every time.
    “Okay, ’night then,” Brianna said.
    “’ Night, Bri.”
    Her cousin shut the door and Danielle
watched as Ethan and Max stepped out of her closet. Ethan tried to
go back to her, but Max caught his arm. “We really need to leave,”
the knight said sternly.
    “Max, I’m not leaving her.”
    “You can’t stay here. You won’t be able to
hear if they’re coming to check on her. You’ll get caught, and then
they won’t let you continue to see her.”
    “She’s not a child—”
    “Not according to her uncle, or me, or you,
for that matter.”
    Danielle winced at that. Did Ethan really
see her has a child? She knew her uncle did, and of course so did
Max. It was no wonder really, especially with him being over six
hundred years old, but Ethan....
    “Stay with us. Please,” Ethan petitioned,
obviously ignoring the comments about her age, or perhaps trying to
distract her from it.
    “Ethan, you’re asking—” The knight shook his
head, his thick brows furrowed.
    “Max, please. Please,” Danielle begged.
    Apparently he held a soft spot for her as
she thought she recognized regret in his expression. “Fine,” he
snapped. “But only for tonight.”
    “Thank you,” she and Ethan chorused.
    After a moment of silence, Danielle asked,
“Max?” She leaned up onto one elbow to look at him.
    “Yes, Danielle.” He was seated in the soft
chair situated near the fireplace in her room with his arms folded
across his chest. He kept his chin down, avoiding eye contact.
    “Thank you—for saving me.”
    Danielle felt Ethan slipping into the bed
with her, and the weight of one arm moved around her waist.
    “You’re very welcome, my lady, it was my
pleasure.” Then he mumbled something under his breath, and again,
he sounded angry.
    “What did you say?” she asked.
    Max sighed and then repeated himself loud
enough for her to hear this time. “‘Hon Y Soit Quit Mal Y Pense.’”
He paused, smiled at her with half-closed eyes and translated,
“‘Shame to him who evil thinks.’ It’s the motto for the Order of
the Garter.”
    “Oh, I like that.”
    Max lifted his feet to the ottoman.
    “Thanks again. I really am very
grateful.”
    He nodded at her words and she