White Raven by J.L. Weil Read Free Book Online Page B

of me. A piece of me was hoping Zane would have occupied the empty seat, but he couldn’t be farther from me.
    The party was pretty tame compared to the ones I normally attended. No blinding rainbow lights. No Parker. No skimpy-dressed-boyfriend-stealing-bimbos. And someone had a serious love-fest with Brantley Gilbert as another one of his hits pumped over the beach. Most of the people were nice, but standoffish. The ones who did talk to me did so for only a minute for polite chitchat or a nod, before speaking with Zander. If it weren’t for Zoe, Zach, and Zander, the triple Zs, making me laugh, it would have been the pits. Zane didn’t say two words to me, but I caught his eyes on me constantly, and each time his scowl deepened.
    WTF?
    What was with this guy?
    I was starting to think all he had going for him was his extraordinary face. He had the look of a guy who left a string of broken hearts in his wake, and I didn’t want to be one of his victims. Or did I?
    The next time I caught him glaring at me, I held his with one of my own, raising a challenging brow, not that I thought he was the kind of guy who backed down from challenge. And he wasn’t.
    Glowering, he didn’t look away, and I hated to admit that his arctic glare was making me uneasy. I blinked. It must have been a hell of a blink, ’cuz the next thing I knew, he was standing in front of me, blocking the heat from the crackling fire.
    “Zoe, she shouldn’t be here,” he snapped.
    I was taken aback by his harsh tone. It made the kitty cat inside me throw out her claws. “Are you always this welcoming, or are you just a classic douche?”
    “Oooh,” his other two brothers chorused, bumping fists.
    He shot me with icy daggers that were probably very intimidating to most, but I didn’t back down easily. Parker could attest to that and all the sticky situations he’d gotten me out of, except this time I was on my own.
    “Douche,” he repeated. “How charming.”
    I lifted my chin. No one pushed me around or told me where I could or couldn’t be. I wasn’t one of those placid girls. The sooner Zane Hunter realized that, the better, or we were going to be having many more confrontations. “I call it like I see it.”
    Zane’s eyes flashed similar to the blue center of a flame.
    “Take a chill pill.” Zander stood, putting himself between the son of Satan and me. They were almost the same height, topping over six feet. “Nothing is going to happen with me around.”
    Huh? Happen?
    What did he think I was going to do?
    It was clear from Zane’s straight expression that he wasn’t convinced. “Oh, how could I forget? Zander is above the laws. It’s your funeral.” And with that lingering unpleasant thought, Zane sauntered his jean-clad butt into the shadows, giving me his back.
    I didn’t know why I was even thinking about his butt. Asshole. I mentally flipped him off. “What the hell was that about? What is he talking about?”
    Zoe offered the lamest excuse I’d ever heard. “I told you my brother was moody.”
    I wanted to shake her. Moody? That was downright rude, hurtful, and senseless. “Maybe I should go. I don’t what to cause problems.” I shifted in my seat to get up before I made a bigger scene.
    Zach stopped me. “Don’t let him get to you.” His eyes narrowed at Zane’s back. “He’s the black sheep of the family.”
    “He’s heinous,” Zoe added with a cute pout that would have looked ridiculous on me.
    I don’t know what it was about her, but I felt like I might have just made a legit “girl” friend. Look at me. Two days on this island and I’d made a friend and an enemy without even trying. I decided to stay.
    “So what’s it like living in that enormous house?” Zach asked, smiling at me. The light from the fire caught strands of his raven hair. The Hunters all had that in common, dark, dark hair. And the accent.
    Toying with my necklace, I replied, “I wouldn’t call it a house. It’s