Sebastian by Hazel Hunter Read Free Book Online Page B

get more spooked than she already was. And it might mean that he would have to share the hunt for the Templar with someone else. Sebastian remembered Nicolette's terrified face when the man had attacked them. This kill was going to be his.  
    The sun was coming up, and Sebastian started folding the blankets that they had slept on. He needed food, and then he needed to hunt. When the threat was taken care of, he could return to Nicolette. He could speak to her. He could explain that the man who had hurt her had been dealt with.
    He could bring her in, and perhaps she would let him keep her close.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

    NICOLETTE WAS PAYING for her night in the fields with a sore body and with eyes that felt as if she had poured sand in them. She focused on the physical discomforts because if she focused on the emotional ones, she would be a wreck.
    In her stuffy, dark tent with Karas croaking menacingly from his perch, she read fortunes. The carnival was getting off to an early start, and the crowd was far better than she had any right to expect. She kept her skill turned down, but she knew that there was something strange about it. Even when she wasn't looking for the auras that she knew swirled around every person, she could see faint glimmers of color here and there. It made her think of Vacek, and how he had told her that close proximity to other Wiccans could enhance her powers. Except that during her time with Vacek, her ability to read auras had felt muted and dull. She had thought the man was simply lying or mistaken, but after her night with Sebastian, she couldn't be sure it was all wrong.
    She wondered what would happen if she spent more time with Sebastian, what she would sense then. The thought of it brought a blush to her cheeks, and she focused instead on her work. As if aware of her mood, Karas came to rest on her shoulder, glaring at the people who came in with a truly theatrical flare.
    The customers for the day were unexceptional, and she had done her Madame Nicole act so often it was like a second skin. She told fortunes, hinted at great potential, uttered a few warnings to the people who seemed particularly unimpressed. She was looking forward to grabbing food behind the tents, when an old woman came in.
    She wore a hat and gloves like something out of an old film, and there was such a sense of peace around her that Nicolette had to look twice. The woman was prim and slightly stooped, and she was far from the normal person who came in looking for their fortunes.  
    “Greetings, beautiful lady,” Nicolette murmured. “What are you seeking today, hmm?”
    The woman smiled, and there was something wistful about it. She put her money on the table, and for a long moment, it looked as if she were gathering her thoughts and trying to figure out what she wanted to hear.
    “What do you know of the other world?”
    “The…other world? The realm of the spirits, do you mean?”  
    The older woman nodded. The hand that she rested on the table between them clenched into a fist.  
    “It's not right, and it's not proper,” the woman said, “but oh, I know that your circus is going to be here today and gone tomorrow. I thought what's the harm if I ask if you know something about what happens when…”
    “What happens after we die?”
    The old woman nodded, and though it was clear that she was grieved, there was still that strange and pervasive feeling of peace that she brought with her. Nicolette had felt it a few times in her life. She had always associated it with people who were fulfilled, who had known something perfect in their souls and their spirits.
    “It is not appropriate for us to know what comes after,” said Nicolette, who had been in this position before. “The veil is dropped after we die, and what comes after that is not for mortals to know.”
    “But surely there is something?”  
    Nicolette smiled.
    “There is something. You are looking for a man? Someone who was very close to