Chevalier (Ondine Quartet #2.2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

fist flew toward my face and I dodged. Commotion erupted behind me but I knew she could handle it.
    Hand jammed into Blondie's throat. He jerked back and I wrapped both hands around his exposed neck. A quick snap and it cracked.
    Before he even landed on the ground, my foot hammered into Slim's knee. It gave with a crunch and he keeled over, leg bent uselessly under him.
    I turned.
    She yanked her dagger out of Barry's chest. He stumbled, feet sliding over ground slick with his own blood.
    Her attention shifted to Mark. His strange eyes widened, unable to comprehend the scene before him.
    Time to open the curtain.
    With a quick tug, I removed the glamour around her aura, introducing him to the one and only…
    " Sondaleur ," he whispered.
    She bared her teeth and flew into action.
    To my left, Slim surged to his feet, his knee regenerated and jaw gaping wide.
    I pivoted, twisting him over my leg and using his full weight to smash him to the ground.
    "Um, sweet iris," I called out.
    Her arm slashed through Mark's stomach, the spray of black blood leaving a random pattern across his white shirt. It looked a bit like a Jackson Pollack painting.
    "I don't suppose you thought to —"
    Free hand reached for the small of her back. With a light flick of her wrist, she sent my kouperet spinning through the air into my waiting palm, then turned to deal with Blondie.
    Golden light blazed and Slim was gone. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a matching flash from her.
    Arm suddenly locked around my neck and pulled me off the ground.
    Gagging, I shoved the kouperet back into flesh and bone. He roared, arm loosening enough to break free.
    I whipped around, driving the blade across Barry's rib cage.
    Violence lit his eyes. "What are you, Jack?"
    My Virtue stirred like a living being inside me. Air shimmered, illusion dissipated.
    "A paradox," I replied.
    Two more strikes and he dropped.
    Only Mark was left and he didn't stand a chance.
    Kendra leaped, body perfectly arched, arm lifted high for the kill. One brutally precise thrust and he was dead.
    Every part of my body ached. Cradling my fractured wrist, I slowly walked over to her.
    "Not bad, ninja. Took you long enough, though."
    I'd realized she was there when I caught the trace scent of a storm.
    She wiped the back of her hand across her mouth and glared. "You owe me."
    I gave a weary chuckle. "I thought you were the one who owed me. Didn't realize we were keeping track."
    Staring at Mark's corpse, I suppressed a sigh. We went through all that and didn't get any new information.
    Once again, the investigation had ground to a halt. And cleaning up this scene was going to be a pain in the ass.
    "What the hell were you thinking?" she fumed. "Coming here on your own? Without a kouperet ?"
    Something was off with the coloring of Mark's shirt pocket.
    "Just trying to impress you, darling," I said lightly. "Did it work?"
    She was highly unamused. "When I got here, they were about to cut you! If I hadn't been able to —"
    I lifted a finger and she abruptly stopped.
    I moved closer. A light was coming from it, the glow subtly filtering through the material.
    Crouching over the body, I reached in and pulled out his phone.
    The call was still connected.
    I brought it to my ear.
    For a second, there was nothing.
    Then I heard it.
    The inhale and exhale of someone on the other end.
    Listening.
    "I'm waiting," he said.
    The call disconnected.
    Heart thudded against my ribs. How much had he heard?
    "Shit." I slid the phone in my pocket. "Lieutenant knows we're here."
    She didn't answer for a few moments. "We knew it was going to happen."
    Yeah, but I'd hoped for later rather than sooner.
    I stood. "How did you get up here without an elevator key?"
    "Charmed the doorman and took the private service elevator."
    Even a grumpy bastard like Donny would've been no match for her.
    "Did you see the girl —"
    "Yeah."
    "Is she…" I stopped, unable to say it.
    Kendra shook her head, face pale.
    Sadness,