Refuge by Karen Lynch Read Free Book Online

pretty in a
girl-next-door kind of way with long dark hair, a smattering of
freckles, and a sweet smile. Mark reminded me of a grunge rocker
with shaggy blond hair that fell into his eyes. He didn’t smile as
much as Olivia. I had noticed they hung out together a lot, and I
wondered if they were a couple or friends like me and Roland.
    Mark took Michael’s vacated chair and stared
at me in disbelief, making me want to scowl at him. Olivia was a
little more hesitant. “Do you mind if we join you?” she asked.
    I shrugged. “The more the merrier, I
guess.”
    “So, let me get this straight,” Mark began.
“You expect us to believe that you did all that with no training
whatsoever? I hate to point out the obvious, but from what I’ve
seen, you can’t fight . . . at all.”
    I flushed at the reminder of my training.
“You can believe what you want.”
    “Don’t mind him. Tell us about the suckers,”
Terrence urged.
    Josh leaned closer. “Forget the suckers. I
want to hear about the trolls.”
    I told them about how the young trolls were
kidnapped and we had to find them before they were taken overseas.
“They were holding them at this huge house in Portland. Nikolas and
Chris went in first to take out the security, and we went in after.
We had no idea those guys were crazy enough to work with vampires,
and we had to kill a few of them to get to the house. Nikolas,
Chris, and my friends took out most of them. I did one, but I had
help.”
    “So, you found the baby trolls?” Olivia asked
breathlessly.
    “Yes, they were in the wine cellar.”
    Her eyes were like saucers. “What happened
next?”
    “A bunch of Mohiri warriors showed up and
took over and we left.” It was only half the story, but there was
so much I couldn’t tell them without revealing things I couldn’t
share.
    Terrence whistled. “How did you guys know
about the trolls in the first place?”
    People did not understand my relationship
with Remy and I was not in the mood to answer the questions that
would arise if I mentioned him. “The werewolves know everything
that goes on in their territory.”
    “That is too frigging cool,” Josh said, his
blue eyes wide.
    Mark frowned. “Wait. What did you use to kill
the sucker if you didn’t have any weapons?”
    “I did have a weapon. I had a knife Nikolas
gave me when we met.”
    “You have one of Nikolas’s knives?” Olivia
asked, and I almost shook my head at the worship on her face.
    “Not anymore.” It was either at the bottom of
the ocean or somewhere in Faerie, and I wasn’t going to explain
either of those possibilities.
    “Convenient.”
    A girl with a cute blond pixie cut walked up
to our group. Jordan was eighteen and, from what I’d seen and
heard, the best trainee here. According to Michael, she was the
oldest orphan ever reclaimed at ten years old – before I came
along.
    “What do you mean?” Olivia asked.
    “It’s a great story, but I’ve seen your girl
here in training.” Jordan scoffed. “If she killed a sucker, it’s
probably because it tripped and fell on the knife.”
    Terrence smiled at me. “Don’t mind Jordan.
She’s actually a nice person when she’s not being herself.”
    Jordan scowled, and I couldn’t help but think
she would be prettier if she stopped glaring at everyone. She
walked away, calling over her shoulder, “Whatever. Make sure you
get plenty of sleep tonight, Terrence. You wouldn’t want to lose
your grip on your sword again tomorrow.”
    Terrence muttered under his breath, and Josh
said, “Don’t let her get to you. She got lucky today.”
    I didn’t say anything. I’d seen Jordan
handling the long thin sword favored by the Mohiri, and I didn’t
think luck had anything to do with her skills. That girl was scary
good. Not as good as Nikolas, of course, but she might be
someday.
    My stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t
eaten lunch. I grabbed my laptop and stood.
    “Hey, don’t go,” Terrence protested. “I want
to hear