Black Rook Read Online Free PDF

confusion, in both the pitch of her voice and the look on her face, slammed something home for Rook. Something that stunned his mind into stalling out for a few seconds.
    Knight broke eye contact and looked at their father. From his spot behind Knight, Rook couldn’t see Knight’s face, but he imagined it mirrored Bishop’s and his own. Shocked. Confused. No one spoke. They didn’t have to: either she was an excellent actress, or she had no idea that she had loup garou blood.
    ***
    Brynn was a hair’s breadth from screaming, and not just because she was trapped in a room with four brawny loup garou males, or because they seemed to be having trouble deciding how to handle her. She didn’t really care that she’d given away a Magi secret by revealing her knowledge of the White Wolf’s ability to calm other loup; she didn’t understand why he was trying it on her, or why she’d felt him in her mind, attempting to soothe her fraying nerves, when he shouldn’t have been able to do so.
    No, she was quietly melting down because she’d failed to diffuse the situation immediately by revealing her purpose in Cornerstone. Her cover had been seen through too easily, and as she’d stepped into the office, she had realized that she’d failed in her self-imposed reconnaissance mission. Her hesitation and nervousness, caused in no small part by the four large and powerful men crowding her, only made her look like a threat to their kind. And until she prevented Rook from murdering her father, then by Avesta she was a threat.
    The moment she’d seen Rook up close, as punkish and charming in person as he’d been in his band photos, Brynn had faltered. While she’d stared at him with hostility, he’d gazed at her with interest. Genuine, open interest from an attractive male. Something she hadn’t had in a long time. Because of her status as a second daughter, she’d grown up knowing she would never be as powerful as her father, nor accepted as a member of the Congress. Her weak, inconsistent seer abilities impressed no one, especially not the courtship of male Magi her own age. The one time her teenage self had forgotten her place and put her hope into the affections of a boy, he’d broken her heart and spirit in one cruel blow.
    No, as much as she craved attention, she would not fail her father because of a loup garou’s wide-eyed appraisal. Or his good looks and perfectly toned body. She had more sense than that. And she was now ninety-nine percent certain that Thomas McQueen was Alpha of the Cornerstone run. And she could not bluntly accuse the son of the Alpha of murder without consequences for the Congress—especially now that they’d identified her as a Magus.
    She had to talk her way out of this. The loup garou had keen enough senses to figure out if she was lying through her teeth, and she wasn’t a very good liar anyway. She never had been, even when it came to self-preservation. The truth was her only viable option.
    “I’m sorry,” she said. “Coming here was a mistake.”
    Her statement earned the attention of all four men, and of the four, the suspicious glare coming from Rook unnerved her the most. Knight backed up a few steps, and she felt more able to breathe in the extra space between them. Until Thomas stepped out from behind his desk and overtook the spot in front of her, a large obstacle she had no hope of defeating. He was not a man she wanted as an enemy. He could snap her neck with one hand. Brynn dropped her own hands down, keenly aware of the ring on her finger and the lethal dose of poison hiding inside of it. The last thing she needed was his attention on that ring.
    “Why did you come here?” Thomas asked. “The truth, if you don’t mind.”
    “I really am here on my own. No one sent me. No other Magus knows I’m even here.”
    “All right, I believe you. But you must know this is a sanctuary town, and I imagine there are plenty of auctions elsewhere that you could attend. So why