Rebel by Kristina Douglas Read Free Book Online Page B

someone else to torment. That, or he’ll go away. Soon.”
    “Oh, I don’t know. I think he’s an interesting addition. He’ll shake things up a bit.”
    “I don’t like things shaken up. I like stability.”
    “I know you do, sweetness,” Tory said soothingly. “But we’re at war. That’s hardly stable.”
    “All the more reason for the Fallen to remain constant. Having an outsider come in and disturb everyone—”
    “Who’s disturbing everyone?” A silken voice was at my ear, and I could have kicked myself. I angled my body just slightly toward him, giving him as little of my attention as possible.
    “We were having a private discussion,” I said in what I hoped was a suitably chilling voice.
    “Then you shouldn’t be having it at the dinner table.” He was too close to me. The tables in the assembly hall were massive—there was plenty of room for all of us. Tory wasn’t practically in my lap, and when Tam had been on my left side, he hadn’t pushed his energy all over me like a blanket of nettles. Not like this man.
    “Point taken,” I said, turning back to the watchful Tory. He’d chosen that moment to move as well,and my shoulder brushed against him. It was as if I’d been hit by the mother of all static-electric shocks—I jumped back with a muffled curse, almost landing on Tory.
    He’d done it on purpose, I knew it, and I was about to give in to temptation and snap at him when I saw his eyes. He was looking as startled as I felt. A moment later that expression was gone, and he was smiling down at me. “You’re a dangerous woman, Martha.”
    Enough was enough. I needed time to compose myself. This man had disrupted my life in a few short hours, with nothing more than a wicked smile and an accidental touch, and I needed to put it in perspective.
    I started to push back from the table, searching for an excuse to leave, when Tory put a restraining hand on my arm. The shake of her head was almost imperceptible, and as she leaned forward to help herself to the mounds of buttery mashed potatoes in front of us, she whispered, “Don’t let him get away with it. You’re tougher than that. Grow a pair.”
    I froze. She was right—I was being a coward. Then again, I had no delusions that I was a warrior like most of the Fallen and their mates. I had been trained to fight—everyone in Sheol had—but I’d spent the first battle with Uriel’s armies in the infirmary, tending to the wounded. I had already barelysurvived one horrific skirmish with the Nephilim, and even if my wounds were now scars, the ones inside had never quite healed. I could fight if I had to. But I would rather run and cower, much as it shamed me.
    Cain couldn’t hurt me, I reminded myself. He was an arrogant little boy tugging on my braids to make me react, wanting to cause mischief wherever he could. I had no idea why—maybe it was simply his nature, which would explain why Raziel and Azazel had welcomed his reappearance with a singular lack of enthusiasm.
    “You’re right,” I said to Tory. “Pass me the potatoes.” There was nothing like buttery carbs to make a girl feel better.
    Somehow I made it through dinner, with Tory’s help and plenty of comfort food. Cain must have decided he’d had enough fun tormenting me; for the rest of the meal, his attention was elsewhere. I held myself stiffly, making certain I didn’t accidentally brush against him, but he was turned partly away, talking with Tam, and instinctively I knew I was safe. For now.
    W HAT THE HELL had happened? If there’d been a carpet beneath the banquet tables, Cain would have thought she’d been rubbing her shoes against it simply to give him the mother of all shocks. But theywere by the ocean, the air was moist and light, and static electricity was unlikely.
    His plan had been simple—start to move in on her. All that had gone sideways with a spark that zapped him so hard he’d almost cursed out loud. He had no idea how she’d done it or why,