Poison Tree by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes Read Free Book Online Page B

and one of her father with his girlfriend in Key West. The photos sitting side by side seemed to give the illusion that the individuals within would ever choose to be in the same room together.
    Without needing to be told, Christian pushed the sweaters aside to reveal a false bottom, under which were Alysia’s real treasures: an Onyx crossbow, with its arms collapsed for storage; three slender metal stakes, each with its own adaptations to make it better suited for fighting; and a set of daggers. Each weapon represented a hard-earned rank in one of the Bruja guilds.
    “You’ve kept them in remarkably good condition for someone living at SingleEarth, but you’re likely to lose them if you keep putting them into other members,” Christian remarked.
    “I didn’t—” Alysia drew a deep breath, biting back her defensive retort as someone knocked on the door.
    What now?
She was halfway across the room before she thought to glance back to confirm that Christian was swiftly concealing the weapons again. “I’m coming,” she called out.
    She opened the door prepared for the worst and found Lynzi there, wearing pajamas and an assortment of jewelry that seemed at odds with her appearing otherwise recently awakened.
    Her gaze went instantly to Christian as she asked, “Is everything okay here?”
    “Yeah,” Alysia answered, struggling to both wrap her brain around why Lynzi was there and come up with a good excuse for Christian’s presence.
    “Morning. I’m Lynzi,” she said, offering her hand.
    Christian glanced at Alysia as he shook Lynzi’s hand and said, “Nice to meet you. Alysia, are all your friends such early birds?”
    It was a struggle for Alysia to keep her face straight as she realized that she could at least cross Christian definitively off the list of possible shooters. As she had told the others, any Onyx member planning that hit would have done research first.
    Christian had obviously forgotten to do his research.
    “I sleep lightly,” Lynzi explained with a gentle smile. Her tone was still utterly modest and sweet as she added, “I also sleep across the hall, and your veiling is terrible.”
    Christian pulled back his hand abruptly, his eyes focusing on Lynzi for the first time as he realized she was more than the kid she seemed.
    “Your veiling is very good, I gather,” he replied.
    Veiling was a technique used by witches to make their aura look like something else—usually human. Mortal witches could veil to an extent, but Tristes were the best at it.
    “You’re Alysia’s friend who was training with Pandora?” Lynzi asked.
    Seeing Christian’s normally impeccable cool broken was fun—and useful, since it was solid evidence that he wasn’t responsible for the recent carnage—but it still left Alysia watching the conversation fatalistically.
    SingleEarth was all about forgiveness and new beginnings. Lynzi didn’t need to believe Alysia had
always
been innocent—just that Alysia’s life in Bruja was
over
. And she would believe it, unless Christian said something to contradict Alysia.
    I know you’re angry with me, Christian
, she thought desperately, trying not to fidget,
but please don’t screw this up
.
    As if he had heard her thought, Christian glanced at Alysia again, this time to check what to say. When she nodded slightly to confirm that she had in fact told Lynzi about a Triste friend, he said, “She knew Pandora had offered to train me. I hadn’t made the decision before the last time we spoke.”
    “So it’s been a while,” Lynzi surmised. “I gather you’re the friend she ran into at Onyx?”
    “I was shocked as hell to hear her say she was with SingleEarth,” Christian admitted, “but Alysia has always been full of surprises. I gave it some thought and decided I might as well look into this attack she mentioned.”
    Lynzi nodded. “I’m going to get dressed,” she said, “and then I would be happy to show you around the attack area, to see if you have any