The Chronicles of Koa: Netherworld by K. N. Lee, Ann Wicker Read Free Book Online

cold, unearthly presence. Sometimes Koa would look behind her and frown, wondering if they were still there.
     
    Galena didn’t seem to mind. She was comforted by the knowledge that they would always be with her.
     
    Galena nodded. “I’ll be at my cottage in Greece.” Halston nodded and came to his feet. He folded his hands behind him as she gathered her bag and headed for the exit.
     
    Galena gave Koa a look. Koa tensed at the look in the woman’s gray eyes. “Good luck out there, Koa.” Her voice lowered. “Watch your back,” she said and left the room.
     
    Once the door was secured, Koa shot a glance at Halston. “What happened? Tell me?”
     
    Halston sighed and leaned back against one of his computer stations. He shrugged and looked off towards the door that Galena had just went through. “We have a problem, Koa.”
     
    Koa frowned. “Obviously.”
     
    He gazed at her. He looked paler than usual. Koa sat on the edge of her seat. Something was definitely wrong.
     
    “I think something is brewing. A war perhaps. Someone is letting nephilim out of the Netherworld at an alarming rate. They are gathering and mobilizing.”
     
    Koa felt her face flush. “More Syths,” she whispered.
     
    Halston shook his head. “Not just Syths, but the Netherworld vamps and even demons.”
     
    Koa fell back in her chair. “Why do you think that, Halston?”
     
    Silence.
     
    Koa saw that Halston was holding back. She sat up. “What is it?”
     
    Halston ran his hands through his hair, making it messy. “You remember who killed your father?”
     
    She could feel herself shaking. She ground her teeth. “How could I forget? It took us a long time to find out who did it.”
     
    Halston sucked in a breath. “Well, Bund has returned.”
     
    Koa put both hands over her lips, as if in prayer. One of her deepest fears was being realized. “He is free? From the Netherworld?”
     
    Halston’s silence answered her question. Koa whimpered and felt acid from her stomach enter her throat. She felt fear wash over her like hot water. She covered her mouth. “No, Halston.”
     
    Halston held his hands out to calm her down. “Did I tell you to start worrying? I have this under control.”
     
    “Halston, he killed my father.”
     
    Halston sighed in exasperation and turned away from her. He slumped into his chair at his computer station and began typing away. “I have a plan, Koa. Don’t I always have a plan?”
     
    Koa nodded. Her throat felt dry. When Halston had found Koa and recruited her, it had been only weeks after her father had been killed in a Parisian alley. Koa had only been seventeen, and returned from a nightmare that she couldn’t remember, to find her father, have him killed, and find her mother had been cursed to live as a cat.
     
    It would be an understatement to say that Koa had turned to the dark side for a while. She didn’t like what she had become, but Halston had given her direction. Halston had helped her find out who had killed her father. Someone named Bund. For five years, Koa had thought about what she would do once she found that person, and yet, she was fearful of him. Her father had been the strongest vampire she’d ever known.
     
    Her father had trained her, loved her, and protected her. She felt her adrenaline start to simmer. She might get her revenge sooner than she thought.
     
    “Now, I need you to trust me. Can you do that?”
     
    Koa nodded again, but her entire body felt as if it had been stuck with pens and needles, like a foot that had fallen asleep. Was she ready to face her father’s murderer?
     
    She grabbed her arms and massaged them. She tried to shake off that horrible feeling of fear. She didn’t like it. She didn’t like being reminded of the horrific events of her past.
     
    “Halston.” Her voice sounded almost childlike. Koa couldn’t explain why she almost felt like a child again. A terribly frightened child.
     
    He stopped typing and turned his