Twin Passions: 3 by Lora Leigh Read Free Book Online Page A

warm you and rest. Your magick will then return full strength, and perhaps by then, we can repair a bit of the damage in your thoughts of us.”
    “How, with a Joining?” Mocking filled the tear-stained laughter that was so pathetic it was humiliating.
    Because there was nothing she longed for more than to lie beside them, to have them wrap her in their arms and create the bonding that only came when natural Consorts Joined.
    “I fear even we could not establish a Joining this day, love.” He sighed then. “It would take far more than one small nap to establish the strength needed to give you the pleasure we long to give.”
    “No lies, Wizards.” She feared she could not bear the pain of them. “Rest. Worry for your own strength, for there will be a reckoning soon. And I fear strength may be all that will aid your escape from this land.”
    The thought of them leaving, of no chance to feel their touch or the caress of their magick, was near more than she could bear.
    “How long—” Clearing his throat, he stared around the cavern. “How long has it been since we found the cubs?”
    She shrugged, uncertain. “I found you and the babes, chilled and weak this noon, though the battle for the valley was fought two eves past. The land showed me the gifts you gave in repairing their bodies before lifting the spell. I brought you here.” She gestured to the cavern. “And wondered at why you did such a thing.”
    Did her hatred, her disgust at herself as well as them, reflect within her voice?
    The emotions tearing through her were chaotic and left her filled with dread.
    “They are innocent,” he said softly, his gaze on the Griffon babes rather than her. “Such innocence did not deserve such a fate.”
    Should she excuse him for not seeing the shaft of agony he drove into her heart? Did this mean, in his reasoning, that she and the Sorceresses of Covenan were somehow guilty of some crime and undeserving of life?
    Could she forgive such a thought in exchange for the actions of saving the cubs?
    Nay, she would forgive him nothing.
    “What of my princess and my queen?” she demanded wearily then, coming to her feet to pace slowly toward him, to stare down at him, wishing she had the strength to expend her fury. “Were they not innocent enough, Talagarian Wizard? Did they deserve whatever fate you sent them to?”
    His head turned slowly. The look on his face—was it guilt or was it horrified confusion? At that moment, how she wished she had the gift of the Justices to divine the truth.
    “What say you, Sorceress?” His voice rasped, as if a great illness tore at his throat. “What is this you accuse us of?”
    Her chin lifted, but still her tears fell as she stared down at him. Her anger, her certainty that he must lie, that he must know how he had destroyed not just her queen but also her cousin and her friend, drove spikes of agony through her chest.
    “Queen Amoria and Princess Serena did naught to you,” she stated, painfully aware that she could not strike him down, that she could do nothing but leave and pray to the gods she had the strength to never return.
    “Why?” She could not stop the plea from passing her lips. “Why, Torran, would you take them from us? Did you hate the princess so much for denying your request to question men you had given orders to? Was it the fact that she denied you? Did you know how she stood before the Justices, before you petitioned to speak to the accused and raged at them for their refusal?
    “That she begged and all but went to her knees before them to allow you the questioning you sought. For what?” she cried out desperately. “So you could destroy her and her mother? Take from us all we hold dear?” She battled back her tears once again. “Ah Torran, fine warrior of Talgaria, how I wish I could drive my sword through your heart for such an evil act.” Sobs tore from her. “How weak am I?” She wanted to fall to her knees in shame and pain. “How weak am