Blood Redemption (Blood Destiny #9) Read Online Free PDF Page A

one?" A mischievous glint appeared in Gardevik's eyes.
    "We could get both at the same time." Erland was becoming excited at the prospect. All they had to do was convince Lissa.
    * * *
    "My love," Kifirin kissed me carefully. The tears had finally stopped, but it had taken some time. I was convincing myself that I would find a way to live without Shadow. My heart still hurt, and there would be more tears. I had to get past that. Shadow's children deserved the best they could get, as did the mother who bore them.
    "Lissa," Kifirin brought my attention back to him.
    "Honey?" I realized he had something to say to me. Blinking away tears, I gazed into his dark eyes. This was one of those times when they were filled with stars. I could lose myself in those eyes, if I let myself go.
    "Gardevik Rath and Erland Morphis will come to you with a proposal very soon. Say yes, avilepha."
    "What are they going to ask for?" I didn't want to say yes if I didn't know what I was agreeing with.
    "You will learn of it soon enough. Now, you should come with me to Le-Ath Veronis. Much work waits for you there."
    "Yeah. I was afraid of that," I muttered with only a hint of sarcasm in my voice. Kifirin had been feeding me energy the entire time he'd held me. I wasn't nearly as weak as I'd been before. Now I had to find a way to deal with my life—living without my wizard. I wanted to cry again, just thinking about it.
    "They will regret their decision one day," Kifirin nuzzled my temple, before placing warm lips against it. "While you may not have kept track of all who have mistreated you, I will not be so generous."
    Surprisingly, Kifirin folded me to Casino City. We walked down one of the main thoroughfares, taking in the sights. I hadn't been in this part before—I'd only been to the landing station, where the shuttles delivered tourists and gamblers from the space station. And then inside the Chessman, Adam's casino, for a party honoring his and Kiarra's anniversary. Actually, the Chessman was three blocks away from the street where Kifirin and I walked. My hand was tucked in the crook of Kifirin's elbow as I stared around me.
    "Honey, this makes me want ice cream," I said as we strolled brick-lined streets amid exclusive little shops and boutiques. "Or a cookie," I added. It did. Either of those things sounded good.
    "There are no shops offering either," Kifirin smiled down at me and patted my arm. "You could open them, love. That would be a ready income for you, to use any way you pleased."
    "It would, wouldn't it?" I agreed with him. I still had the funds that had been turned over to me—money that had originally come from Sergio Velenci, which Merrill had invested. A tidy sum in the beginning, it had grown exponentially since then and had been recently moved to a bank on Le-Ath Veronis. I was running through this in my mind—I could open sweet shops and sell fresh baked cookies and ice cream made onsite. Maybe brownies or other goodies. Visitors flocked to Casino City; they'd buy, I think.
    "I'm going to do this," I breathed. "I just need to find someone to run all this for me."
    "Many would leap at the chance," Kifirin agreed. "They will come to you, avilepha. I know they will."
    * * *
    Kifirin and I sneaked into my study later and pored over a map of Casino City with Grant and Heathe, both of whom gave me a big hug when I arrived. I knew Kifirin was distracting me from the Shadow debacle, but it was working for the moment. I just wasn't looking forward to the time when Kifirin left, as he invariably did. I'd have to face my other mates, then. How had things come to this? How? Glendes and Raffian had known what I was when Shadow made his proposal in the beginning. They were throwing a wrench into the works now, instead of at the start of our relationship. I didn't understand this at all.
    "Avilepha, you are wandering away from me," Kifirin touched my face gently and drew me back to the map. I sighed as I examined available spaces in the