The Cursed (League of the Black Swan) by Alyssa Day Read Free Book Online

magic, not that I really understand it all that well in the first place,” he admitted, as she stood there staring at the spacious expanse of the first floor of his house, which took up a good thirty times the square footage of Helga’s storage room.
    “I kind of have more house than most people expect,” he said, and then the stabbing pain started in his gut, and he fell on his face.

CHAPTER 4

     
    Rio crashed to the floor, too, because Luke was well over two hundred pounds of long, lean muscle, and he’d had one arm firmly wrapped around her waist when he toppled. Somehow, in a burst of creative chivalry or pure dumb luck—for her—he’d managed to twist so that he didn’t fall on top of her. Considering the noise the back of his head had made when it hit the floor, she was pretty grateful. On the other hand, she was the only person conscious in a wizard’s apartment, and there was no way that could be good. Not to mention that her traitorous body was entertaining thoughts of how delicious his long, hard body felt against hers.
    She pushed away the idea and slowly sat up, hoping there were no wards primed to burn her to cinders or turn her into a toad, and spoke somewhat hesitantly to the empty room.
    “I know that intent is important in magic, so I want to state clearly that I have no intention of harming Luke. I only want to help him.”
    She bit her lip and looked around, feeling like a fool, but nothing moved or changed. No magical, sparkly lights spelled out ENTER , but they didn’t show up and spell out GO AWAY , either, so she decided to take her chances.
    “Luke,” she said, touching his muscular shoulder. “Luke!”
    But his lashes didn’t even flutter. He was out cold on the surprisingly beautiful hardwood floor of his house that was bigger on the inside. It must have been the venom.
    “I hope it doesn’t kill you,” she whispered, suddenly feeling more alone than she ever had.
    His eyes opened, and he stared up at her, blinking, and then his forehead smoothed as he seemed to remember where he was and what had happened.
    “Need water,” he said hoarsely. “The powder—pale yellow powder in glass vial over the sink. Please.”
    She pulled herself up and limped across the open space to the kitchen area, which was part of the entire living, dining, and relaxing space. Luke’s home was restful, at least what she could see of it from here. Vibrant autumn colors that reminded her of the forest mixed with splashes of dark green and warm red. Nothing too new or flashy, but the entire effect was one of good taste and money. Old money.
    She glanced back at the open doorway, briefly wondering why his office looked like it belonged to a man desperate to pay the rent, before deciding to worry about more important things.
    She examined the several cut-glass vials standing in a neat row on a narrow shelf above the sink and quickly selected the only one with light yellow powder in it. She carried it and a glass of water back to where Luke waited, still flat out on the floor, and sank down next to him, trying not to cry out when her injured ankle twisted a little underneath her.
    “I’m so sorry,” he rasped, leveraging up onto his elbows and then into a sitting position before taking the vial from her. “I should be taking care of you, and I’m useless.”
    “You can owe me one,” she said, trying to smile and failing miserably.
    Luke poured about half of the yellow powder into the glass of water, where it dissolved into an unexpected bluish-purple shade, and then he tilted his head back and drank the entire glassful without stopping.
    She watched his throat, oddly fascinated by the movement as he swallowed, and then she forced herself to look away as she took a long, deep breath. Her muscles, which had been tensed and ready to fight or flee all day, relaxed bit by bit until she wanted to curl up in a ball next to Luke and fall asleep.
    He finished the water, inhaled a long breath of his own, and