Maybe Fate: A Novel (New Adult Paranormal Romance) by Cynthia Brint Read Free Book Online Page B

bed.
    Falling
back on my mattress, I covered my face with a pillow. “Becky,”
I begged, “please stop.”
    “ Fine,
fine,” she sighed. I heard the springs of her bed creak as she
laid down. “You have to promise that you'll introduce me to
the guy that finally got your guard down, though.”
    Closing
my eyes, I just pressed the pillow harder against my face. The cool
blackness was extremely welcoming.
    Introduce
you to him? Thinking
about how much Becky had gotten wrong, and how much she had gotten
right, made my stomach ripple.
    Yes,
I've decided to give him a chance... but it's because he saved my
life, not because of some mistaken idea of dating or something.
    Recalling
his hard jaw, the wicked curve of his grin when he looked at me, I
shivered down to my toes.
    Dating
is the last thing I'm worried about.
    Right
now, I need to understand who the hell Nethiun is, or at the very
least, WHAT he is.
    He
called himself a twaelin, I've never even heard of that before.
    My
head filled with the images of the two of them fighting in the sky,
the pure rage that had surrounded me when those gold eyes looked my
way.
    It
was a wonder that I even fell asleep at all.

    ****

    Walking
across the commons the next morning, I was relieved to not have any
classes on a Saturday. Sleeping in till the afternoon was barely
enough to make me feel revived.
    Clutching
a cup of coffee from the free dispenser in the college's mess hall,
I strolled over the grass towards the library.
    Steam
tickled my nose as I nursed the hot liquid, bitterness rolling down
my throat. I finished it before I even entered the doors of the
building, throwing the cup into the trash.
    Inside,
it was virtually empty. No
one comes here on the weekend, I
mused. Heading to the front desk, I caught the eye of an older
woman.
    “ Hey
there,” I said politely, fingers gripping the edge of the
counter. “Um, I'm looking for books on a certain topic. Can
you help?”
    “ Of
course!” Beaming, she adjusted her spectacles. “Tell me
what you need, I'll look it up right away for you.”
    Huh,
this seems too easy. Where's the catch? Wrinkling
my forehead, I pulled out the piece of paper from my pocket. “Here,
this is the word I need to check out.” Sliding it across to
her, I watched her squint at my writing.
    Quickly,
her smile fell into an unsure wrinkle. “What does 'twaelin'
mean?”
    “ That's
why I'm asking you,” I said, my cheeks flushing pink. This
is stupid. “Can
you look it up, see if you have any books about it?”
    She
made a small noise in her throat, then began tapping into her
computer. “Let me see... hmn... Well,” she laughed,
clicking the mouse loudly, “we have books on 'Twilight' and
'Mark Twain' but otherwise...”
    Of
course, that's what I expected, I
thought in frustration. “Alright, thanks anyway. Mind if I
look around?”
    Waving
her hand to indicate it was fine, I strolled off to wander the tall
shelves of books. Not even knowing where to start, I headed to the
mythology section.
    I
found all sorts of books on monsters, demons, fae... everything but
what I was after.
    Dropping
a heavy book onto the stack beside me, I stood on tip toe, trying to
reach a red tome just out of reach.
    Grunting,
I strained harder, finger tips just brushing the binding. Almost
got it, come on...
    Long,
elegant, a pale hand slid past mine and gripped the book. Spinning
away, I stared up at the tall figure of my English teacher. “Mr.
Birch!”
    Smiling
pleasantly, he offered me the thick book. “Miss Everette, good
to see you spending your time in the library.”
    Blushing
furiously at his backhanded comment, I took the tome and slid it
under my arm self-consciously. “Uh, yeah. Why are you here,
though?”
    “ Research
for the class, that's all. However,” he said, drawing out the
word as he stared down the bridge of his nose, “what are you researching?”
    “ Oh,
uh, I'm not researching anything,” I said quickly, glancing
down at my tower of