NocC 026 - Lauren Hawkeye - The Darkling's Desire - Harlequin 2012-11 by Nocturne Read Free Book Online Page A

crimson fireworks showering down in front
of her eyes. Inhaling as she did while practicing her calming yoga, Anastasia
willed her focus to hone into a narrow point. She struck Petra on the back of
the skull with the heavy handle of the knife, hard enough that even her
battle-hardened warrior of a mentor fell, momentarily stunned.
    Anastasia backed away rapidly, putting space between herself
and Petra before blanching and clutching at the worse of her wounds. Her blood
dripped to the ground, droplets of her life’s essence, and she hoped that Jasper
could resist their siren call.
    “You stupid little bitch.” Petra lay on the ground, clutching
her ankle. In the pale light of the moon she suddenly looked old, haggard.
Anastasia would have felt for her, had she not known what her alleged aunt was
capable of. “Do you not understand? These Darklings are the reason that your
mother is dead. The reason that our people are little more than slaves.”
    Beseechingly she looked across the clearing to her niece.
Though the words struck a chord in her heart, Anastasia did not falter.
    “A Darkling is the reason that I am alive, though I do not
condone his actions.” As she stood in the evening light, she saw Jasper staring,
seemingly amazed. When his fangs retracted, Anastasia felt a surge of power rock
through her, as if she were drawing it down from the sky.
    “There are good Darklings, as there are bad.” Anastasia’s eyes
flicked across the clearing to meet Jasper’s. The connection jolted her to the
core.
    She wanted this man—no, she more than wanted him. She wasn’t
sure what that feeling was, but she knew that her mother’s predictions about the
strength of her feelings for this particular Darkling had been true.
    “At the opposite end, there are bad Amazons, just as there are
good.” Anastasia forced herself to return her attention to her aunt. She moved
the blade in her uninjured hand, as if measuring its weight.
    Petra’s eyes widened in fear.
    “ Nastavnyk , you have always taught
me that death is preferable to dishonor. Kill or be killed.” Anastasia took a
step toward her aunt, then paused, the emotions warring within her.
    Tradition dictated that she take the life of her aunt, the
woman who had wronged her.
    Despite having been immersed in this tradition since birth,
Anastasia wasn’t sure that it was right.
    “Anastasia.” She turned to look at Jasper, her eyes luminous
with a sheen of emotion. “I will do this for you.”
    She paused, considering, before shaking her head.
    “No. It must be this way.” At her words Petra scrambled to all
fours, crawling desperately away. Anastasia felt pity for the lowly animal that
her aunt had become as she advanced, closing the distance between herself and
her blood kin.
    Stalking her. Moving in for the kill.
    “No.” Petra whimpered like an animal when Anastasia finally
stood over her. “Please, no.”
    Anastasia waited for the blade to fall. It was what she should
have done, what Jasper would do if she let him.
    For a long moment she looked down, memorizing features that she
only now saw so closely resembled her own. Tradition said she should kill Petra,
but Petra had been right about one thing, at least to Anastasia’s way of
thinking.
    Some things needed to change.
    Bending at the waist, Anastasia helped her aunt to her feet,
asking Jasper to call in the Council.
    “You will have to live with the dishonor. There is no
punishment greater than that.”
     

Chapter Four
    “I should send you out on the streets. Trying to kill
my employee. Hmpf.” Anastasia felt like a child again as Esme fed the curved
needle into her skin. She winced as the suture was pulled tight.
    She wasn’t sure what to say to that. With a sidelong glance at
Jasper she pressed her lips together and focused on the bright pain in her
hand.
    She had been skeptical about being healed by the human who
looked like a storybook witch. Jasper had insisted. Esme was something of a
legend