Finding Fiona by Viola Grace Read Free Book Online

love. The lasting kind, not the kind simply driven by lust.” She paused and gave Fiona a long look. “Together we can find the women that will best suit the men, give them a description and tell them where to find them. It is cheating, but it is effective. We also need a lot of luck.” She winked to Lucky and a rich laugh was the response.
    “Henry had all the luck he needed.”
    “Henry had nerves of steel, Lucky.” Artemis finally joined the conversation. “What this is all in aid of, Fiona, is that your talents will complete the group and make them more effective. If you are amenable, they will meet at your home and you can start going through the files of the men involved.”
    That last phrase threw her, “I don’t have a home.”
    “Of course you do. Well, Ander does. Until you join formally with him, you will be his honoured guest.”
    “Like I have a choice.” She was disgruntled. Being forced into close quarters with a man whose presence made her pulse beat in places she couldn’t describe, didn’t seem fair.
    “Oh, you do. No man here can force his mate.” Valentine took a deep breath before deciding to continue. “I was raped by one of the Lios when I was at my high school prom. They brought me here, castrated him and sent him back through the rift to Underhill. My mate was upset and he has not made a move on me in all the years I have been here. We live together, but until I am ready, he will do nothing.”
    Artemis chimed in, “The community at large supports Valentine and her right to choose when and if she will take Mythos to her.”
    “Mythos? The doctor?”
    “The healer, yes.”
    “He has really gentle hands.”
    “I know. It was he who had to treat me after the Lios had savaged me.” Valentine was sad, it was obvious. “I don’t think it’s an image he has ever forgotten.”
    No, it wouldn’t be. How could a man try and seduce a woman that had been brutalized?
    “I hear that the Lios are going to lose another member.”
    “Ah, has someone found Baenwik then?” The nasty pretty boy had been rather banged up when she last saw him.
    “Indeed. He had nowhere to go. His own steed rejected his actions when he kidnapped the child. She is back with her family by the way. And she has a new pony.” Lucky was smirking. It was obviously extreme for a steed to reject a rider, and to choose a human girl over it was insulting to the elf involved.
    “Where is he then?”
    “My fiancé, Henry went to pick him up. With Hannah’s Simon. He didn’t have much of a chance.” Pride in their men shone through. As well as a large dose of amusement. Apparently, these boys could play rough.
    She flashed back to the fistfight between Ander and Baenwik. Yeah, these boys played rough.
    Speak of the devil. Ander filled the doorway and stopped abruptly upon seeing the room full of women, “Ladies. I bid you good day.” His tone was formal, the tone of one who had said these words every day for centuries.
    Centuries? Where did that come from.
    “Fiona. I see you have Abax firmly in your thrall. How are you feeling?”
    Abax stretched and shifted back into his dog form.
    The girls jumped back. “That is a steed? In bed with you? Holy hells!” Valentine uttered these words.
    The dog on the bed simply wagged his tail.
    Mythos approached with a wheelchair and the dog growled at it. “Abax, she cannot walk out of the infirmary. Her feet are too tender.”
    Fiona knew what he would do, “Ladies, you had best get away from the bed. My ride is here.” She spoke not a moment too soon. The dog jumped from the bed and the unicorn was standing next to her.
    Ander walked toward the bed and the steed stood aside. “Fiona, it’s time to go.” He lifted her carefully from the bed and settled her on Abax’s back, sideways to spare her feet being knocked around.
    The unicorn immediately began a stately pace out the door and down the hallway, the steady clack of his hooves rang on the tile.
    Ander walked in