Into the Light by Tami Lund Read Free Book Online Page B

hadn’t changed much in ten years, Tanner reflected.
    “We’re your friends. If you think we were going to stand by and watch you kill yourself over some stupid lightbearer, you’re a bigger idiot than I thought.”
    Tanner’s lips quirked into a reluctant smile. “You thought I was an idiot before all this?”
    “Yes,” Lisa replied. “Because you left us behind ten years ago. You should have taken us with you. We could have survived.”
    Tanner thought about the conversation he’d had with his mother, ten years ago, shortly before he left the pack.
    “He’ll let you go,” she said . “But he’ll kill anyone else who tries to go with you. Three shifters make a pack, Tanner. He would see it as a challenge to his authority. You going on your own is nothing more than sowing your wild oats, and that, he would be willing to overlook. But only that.”
    He certainly wouldn’t be able to overlook Tanner stealing a lightbearer right from under his nose. If Tanner hadn’t been excommunicated before, he sure as hell would be now. What would Quentin do, without a legitimate heir to take over the pack?
    “What’s the plan now?” Freddy wanted to know.
    “I need a vehicle. Does your cousin still run that garage in town?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Can you get me a car?” Tanner glanced at his watch. “Today? Preferably sooner rather than later.”
    Freddy pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. “Probably, but he won’t bring it up here.”
    “That’s okay. We’ll meet him. Is that old industrial park still there? Out heading toward the highway? Is it still abandoned?”
    “Of course it’s still abandoned. Quentin won’t let humans live this close to his pack, no matter what they intend to do with the land.”
    “Good. Tell him we’ll meet him there. We need probably half an hour to get out of here, and another hour and a half to get out there.”
    Freddy made the call. When he disconnected, he said, “Done. What’s next?”
    “Thanks,” Tanner said, feeling grateful and guilty all at the same time. “As soon as the lightbearer is out of the shower, we’re leaving.”
    “Olivia,” Sofia piped up.
    Tanner blinked at the young shifter.
    “Her name is Olivia,” Sofia explained.
    “Right,” Tanner said. “Olivia.”
    He would rather continue to refer to her as the lightbearer . It didn’t have quite the same affect on his body as saying her name out loud did, and Tanner didn’t much care for the way his body reacted to the damned magical creature.
    She’s a frigging lightbearer , he reminded himself. Shifters weren’t supposed to be attracted to lightbearers. Besides that, the woman was refined and elegant and bossy as hell, all traits that Tanner did not normally associate with women to whom he was attracted.
    “When you say we , who are you talking about?” Lisa wanted to know.
    Tanner scowled. “Don’t start, Lisa. You know damn well you can’t go with me. Christ, you’re about to whelp a pup.” He waved at her protruding belly.
    “I’m fine,” Lisa insisted. “It’s better than staying in this pack. What if he finds out we helped you?”
    It was a very real fear, Tanner knew. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, thinking about the consequences to his friends, if Quentin did figure it out.
    Three shifters make a pack. My creating my own pack would be even more of a slap in the face to Quentin. He wouldn’t rest until he killed us all .
    “No,” he said firmly. He heard the squeak of the faucet being twisted and turned his head toward the hall. She was just twenty feet away, naked, her body glistening and wet. He grimaced as his body went hard.
    * * * *
    Lisa continued to argue, even taking it so far as to point out that it was her parents’ vacation home they were using as a hideout. While she argued and Tanner steadily refused to agree to take her and Freddy and little Sofia with him when he snuck the lightbearer away, Sofia slipped from the kitchen. She returned a few moments