Steel Victory (Steel Empire Book 1) by J.L. Gribble Read Free Book Online Page B

with two other new councilmembers. Were either of them also spreading this hate through the city? They still needed to find the mage who had charmed Café Lizzette. “We’re with you,” Toria said.

    Victory wasn’t sure what woke her first—the last of the sun’s rays setting over the forest or Mikelos’ shout from outside their makeshift shelter. She scrambled to her feet after Asaron and ducked out from the tarp behind him in the dimming evening light.
    Asaron drew his basket-hilted sword, the Schiavona he had wielded for hundreds of years, and took up position next to Mikelos. Her daywalker already braced himself with the pistol readied, though pointed at the ground. Victory heard another crash through the nearby underbrush. Mikelos glanced back at her and twitched his head toward where her sword leaned against a tree. She snagged it and drew the blade in time to hear a familiar shout.
    “It’s just us!” her daughter called out. “Don’t shoot!”
    Victory and Asaron lowered their swords and Mikelos barked out a laugh. “Stealthy you are not, daughter!”
    The tall form of her foster son, Kane Nalamas, ducked under a low branch and emerged into view, followed by her adopted daughter. “That was kind of the point,” Kane said. “Didn’t feel like getting skewered today.”
    He staggered when Asaron clapped him on the shoulder. “Good call, boy,” Asaron said. “A good skewering is never fun.”
    Victory lowered her sword and embraced Toria. “How did you even find us?”
    “Tracking spell in the hilt of my sword,” Toria said, pointing at their small shelter. “I can find that thing down to a three-square-foot radius.”
    “It’s true,” Kane said. “We’ve played scavenger hunt with it a few times, and even mage shields can’t hide it from her. As for how we knew you were out here, we went by the house looking for you and found a rather frantic message on your answering machine from the customs master.”
    “So we headed to Merc HQ and grabbed long-distance wheels, enabled the tracking spell, and headed out for the rescue,” Toria said. “The SUV is back on the road, less than a mile away from here.”
    “That’s my girl,” Victory said, squeezing Toria’s shoulders again. “I wasn’t looking forward to the walk.”
    Asaron ducked back into their shelter and returned with Toria’s sword. “I believe this is yours, Granddaughter.”
    Toria made grabby hands at the weapon and all but hugged it when Asaron relinquished it to her. “Thanks again, Grandpa. I owe you one. Speaking of.” Toria reached into her backpack and pulled out two canteens that she handed to Asaron and Victory. Asaron popped the cap of the charmed bottled and chugged down the preserved blood. Once drained, Victory handed over her own bottle and he repeated the process. She could wait. Her sire had had a rough few days.
    “Let’s head home,” Mikelos said, accepting a bottle of water from Kane’s pack. “Have to call Rhaavi and tell him we owe someone a boat.”
    “Indeed,” Victory said. “Did we miss anything today?” Toria did not hide a dramatic flinch.
    “Well,” Kane said. “You could say that.”

    “You did what ?”
    Her mother’s demand echoed off the tile floor of the large kitchen. Next to Toria, Mikelos rubbed his ear. All five of the family gathered around the table while Toria, Kane, and Mikelos ate a late pasta dinner and Victory and Asaron nursed mugs of blood.
    “Um, can I ask which one you’re most mad at before I start defending myself?” Toria refused to be too put out. If Victory had really been angry, she would have stormed off to cool down on her own. Instead, her mother seemed more in shock than anything else. Understandable.
    Victory shook her head in slow disbelief. “Burning down your apartment, I can understand. You’ve done worse.”
    “Almost burning down the apartment.” Even while admitting to the havoc she wreaked, it still wasn’t fair to say Toria had done