Cast Into Darkness Read Online Free PDF Page A

walked with the jaunty confidence of one of her father’s senior casters, despite being young enough to be one of Kate’s college classmates. A black T-shirt stretched across his chest, and he wore tight jeans topped with black leather boots, completing his look—spartan with a sexy chaser that, despite Kate’s best efforts, always made her breath catch. Now was no exception.
    “You got my call. Hallelujah.” Kate crawled out from under the car, her pulse slowing back to normal. She’d torn her favorite shirt and oil blotched the blue fabric.
    “What call?” Victor’s sharp stare probed the roadside, searching for more enemies. Finding none, he turned his gaze on Kate, and along with it, that perpetual “I’m not much older but I’m oh-so-much wiser than you” sneer.
    Giving Victor a sideways glance, she slipped the stone in her back pocket.
    “You didn’t phone for help. You didn’t tell me you needed an escort home, either. But I got lucky. When Sparkles here set off her spells, I detected them. She didn’t even manage to cloak them. Pretty amateur on her part.”
    “You were monitoring me?”
    “I always do.”
    She felt her face redden. “You had no right—”
    “Monitoring’s for your own good. As you can tell.”
    “ Why was I happy to see you again?”
    “Because I saved your life, princess. Of course, I’m just doing my job.” Victor stepped over to Brooke, bending down to check her pulse. “Out cold.” He picked up the tire iron and turned to Kate, a question in his eyes.
    “I can take care of myself. I was doing fine when you got here.”
    “Uh-huh. I wouldn’t call almost being crispy-fried fine . You okay? You look a little beaten up.”
    Her head throbbed. She brushed the gravel off her knees. “Nothing serious.”
    A few cars slowed, their drivers peering at Kate and Victor. He glanced at the traffic and traced something that looked like a super complicated figure eight in the air, followed by a quick chant, his words barely audible above the roar of the highway. The cars sped up, their drivers’ eyes back on the road. Victor stiffened, fists clenched, as the backlash from the spell coursed through him. Kate knew better than to talk to him while he dealt with the dark, paranoid thoughts racing through his mind.
    After a moment, Victor gestured at Brooke. “So, anyone you know?”
    “She’s a student at Cornell.”
    “Tell me what happened. Everything.”
    “My tire blew out, then she showed up. She muttered some vague threats. I threw the tire iron at her, then you appeared.”
    “Did she say what she wanted?”
    Kate hesitated. She’d promised Brian she wouldn’t tell anyone about the stone.
    She shrugged. “You’re the security guy, you figure it out.”
    Victor frowned. “Later. Right now I have to get you out of here. The situation’s not secure.”
    Kate glanced at the unconscious Brooke. “Looks pretty secure to me.”
    “Not your place to say. She may have backup.”
    “You know, if it wasn’t for Dad and his quest to control the world, I wouldn’t need your help. Why can’t you let me have my own life?”
    “That’s impossible.” Victor stalked to the rear of the car, Kate following. “You’re part of the family—” he opened the trunk, muttering “—whether some of us like it or not. That’s not going to change. All that privilege comes with some danger, princess, but that’s why I monitor you.”
    He tossed the tire iron in the back of the car and slammed the trunk closed. “Look, why don’t you take this up with your dad? There really isn’t anything I can—What the hell?” Victor’s gaze darted past Kate to where Brooke lay.
    Kate whirled around. A vague shimmer, like heat rising from an asphalt road, enveloped Brooke. A flash of light brightened the sky, then the blonde began to fade from sight as Kate watched.
    Victor pushed past Kate. He raised an arm toward Brooke, a spell forming on his lips. Before he could complete it, Brooke