Of Blood and Passion by Pamela Palmer Read Free Book Online Page A

by dying, the father who brought a woman into your life who could not love you, then sided with that shrew against you. The friends who abandoned you at the first sign of your differentness. It is surprising, tesoro , that you are as capable of love as you are, and you are capable of great love. It shines within you every time you look at your brother.”
    Quinn squeezed her eyes closed, trying to shut out his words and failing.
    “You are not alone anymore, Quinn. Within this safe house are many who have not shunned you despite your power. Who, in fact, care about you very much.” His hand stroked her hair. “You are my weakness, amore mio . You may not put your own safety first, but I must. I cannot help my need to protect you any more than you can help your own to protect your brother.”
    As she watched Arturo now, she knew what he was thinking, knew that he saw in her quick turnabout just more willingness to sacrifice anything and everything for Zack. But how could she not? From the moment her dad and stepmother brought him home from the hospital, he’d been the only one in the world whose love she’d never doubted, the only one she’d always been able to count on. How many times had she been banished to her room as a child? Yet Zack had always come to check on her, and often to join her, even if it was only to lie on his stomach on the rug beside her bed and play his GameBoy while she did her homework.
    “We leave in an hour,” she repeated.
    “Then let’s meet in the sitting room in half an hour so I can do our glamour,” Micah said.
    Arturo’s mouth compressed as he met Quinn’s gaze. Without a word, he turned and walked away.

    A half an hour later, Quinn entered the sitting room beneath Neo’s, a room as Spartan as the bedrooms, if a bit larger. Two dark gray sofas sat at right angles to one another, an oil lamp glowing from the end table between them.
    Arturo sat on one of the sofas while Micah stood facing a male she didn’t know. A Gonzaga guard. Even as her heart skipped a beat, Micah turned to smile at her.
    “Kass is done,” he said casually.
    It took her brain a moment to catch up. Kass is done. Kassius. Her gaze snapped to the unknown guard. In his eyes, she recognized her friend. The eyes were the one part of the body that could not be hidden behind glamour.
    “Kassius,” she breathed and the stranger smiled at her. Micah’s gift was extraordinary.
    “Ready?” Micah motioned her over.
    Taking a deep breath to gather her scattered wits, Quinn shook her head. “Do Arturo first.” It was Cristoff Gonzaga’s guards who were scouring the city for her, under orders to capture her and bring her in. Believing one had breached Neo’s sanctuary had unsettled her more than she cared to admit, more than she already was thanks to the furtive conversation she’d overheard earlier, one that continued to play havoc with her imagination in the worst possible way. And at the worst possible time.
    For a moment, as she’d stared at the guard, she’d thought he’d already betrayed her.
    Arturo watched her now with deep, fathomless eyes and she wondered if he’d felt that stab of fear, that moment’s belief in his duplicity. If she didn’t find a way to put aside her doubts, if she couldn’t trust him, their mission was doomed.
    Micah moved toward Arturo. “It looks like your up, Ax.”
    As Arturo rose from the sofa, he watched her, his expression shuttered in a way that made her think he didn’t want her to know just how much her lack of faith in him cut.
    The truth was, despite the doubts preying on her mind, she did, for the most part, trust him. They’d been through so much together over the past days and weeks—had risked their lives for one another over and over again. He cared about her, she knew he did. Just as she cared about him.
    But trust had never come easily to her. It had always been a fragile thing, made even more so with the stakes so terrifyingly high.
    Micah lifted his