Toil and Trouble by H.P. Mallory Read Free Book Online Page B

no one else could bring back the dead. Young or not, I’m powerful and you need me.”
    He shook his head and wrapped his hands around the bedposts. “No, Jolie, you aren’t going.”
    Angry tears burned my eyes. This wasn’t fair. I had promised myself I would see Ryder die, that I would kill him myself. When Ryder had kidnapped me months before and chained me to a bed where he’d nearly drained me and came even closer to raping me, the only thought to get me through the whole ordeal was my revenge. And now Rand was going to take that from me?
    “So, I’m supposed to stay here, knowing you or Sinjin could be killed any moment?” I had to marvel at the fact that it seemed my stuttering was on vacation. Hopefully a permanent one.
    His eyes narrowed at the mention of Sinjin and he folded his arms against his chest. “You should have more faith in us. We are not easily defeated.”
    “But you are also not without your weaknesses!”
    Rand’s eyes dropped. “Be that as it may, it does not change the fact that you aren’t going.”
    I suddenly remembered that prior to Ryder kidnapping me, he’d been training me in the art of self defense, for what I thought had been training for this war. “Then why was Ryder training me, if not to fight in the war?”
    Rand’s eyes narrowed at the mention of Ryder. “That was for self defense when I thought Bella might come after you.”
    “That’s bullshit!” I railed, attempting to sit up again which proved useless and I just plopped back down. A hint of numbness climbed up my legs, starting at my toes. A few seconds later, it worked its way up to my waist and inched further upward into my arms and hands.
    Rand shook his head and brought his hand to his forehead, looking as if he was exhausted and couldn’t be bothered talking to me anymore.
    “Jolie, I won’t be able to focus on fighting if I know you’re out there somewhere, possibly dying. I won’t have a level head. You need to stay here if I’m going to be able to focus entirely on fighting Bella.”
    The weight of the fairy potion I’d drunk was now making itself known in the numbness which had overtaken my body. The heat of exhaustion was gently defeating me. My eyes started feeling heavier and I knew it was just a matter of time before I’d be asleep.
    Rand grasped my hand and smiled gently. “Please just heal, Jolie. That’s all you need to focus on.”
    He leaned down and kissed my forehead before opening the door and closing it behind him.

    * * *

    I opened my eyes, and blinked a few times against the darkness of the room. Reaching over, I grabbed the corner of the curtain and pulled on it. A sliver of moonlight pierced the window and spotlighted the room in a Dali-esque array of shadows and exaggerated angles. Was I dreaming? Everything felt odd, muted, my mind buzzing. Maybe it was the after-effects of the fairy potion…
    I turned toward the window, listening for the sounds of battling soldiers. Yep, they were still at it. Did they ever take a rest?
    The eerie green glow of the alarm clock stated it was 3:32 am. God, I knew the creatures of the Underworld rarely slept but this was getting ridiculous. For the last four days, they’d battled all night. Some had slept during the day but only the vampires and that was out of necessity more than anything else.
    Suddenly, a shiver raised the fine hairs on my neck. Illogical fear began bubbling in my stomach and I pushed my palms into my down comforter and attempted to sit up. My muscles strained, but nothing happened. I collapsed into the mattress, holding my breath as my heart hammered madly. Something was wrong. Something was off. I just didn’t know what…
    I turned back toward the window and out of the corner of my eye, I caught the image of two glowing eyes. Before I could scream, a brown wolf leapt through the door and landed on me. As he stared down at me, his eyes reflected the moonlight. His snarling snout revealed a great show of teeth as a