Chosen Read Online Free PDF Page A

you.” She looked at him blankly, and he arched his brow—the shrewd bastard. “About being the Chosen One.”
    “I know, I know.” She sighed and covered her face with her hands, like a pouty kindergartener. “I think it’s just The One, not the Chosen One. And I have no thoughts to share.”
    He shot her a chastising look.
    “What? I’m not thrilled about it, okay? And I’m ready for it to be over with. If it’s even true.”
    “Over with?” At first she wasn’t sure if he was protesting her syntax or the idea itself. “What do you mean ‘over’?”
    “Well, there’s got to be someone who can make sure I never get another bad headache. Someone who can not only make them go away at the moment but make sure they never happen again. I’m sure we’ll find out something when we find these other Chosen. In the meantime, let’s just focus on getting there.” She forced a smile. “You should consider yourself lucky. Some women talk for days on end.”
    In a second, he was sitting up, his lithe arm reaching out, his warm hand closing around hers. “I like to hear you talk.”
    Julia batted her lashes, covering the pleasant shock she truly felt at how…sweet Cayne was being.
    And it just popped out. “You’re pretty romantic for an über villain.”
    *
    It was a good thing the rest of their crew came back so quickly—no tiger had been found—because Julia could tell she’d hurt Cayne’s feelings, and no amount of kisses or hugs seemed to make him feel better. Finally the shocked flatness of the last few hours was gone, replaced by guilt. She felt guilty. He’d been kind and wonderful, and she’d called him an über villain.
    She went to sleep snuggled between Carlin and Meredith, feeling like a jerk because she clearly harbored feelings of…judgment. And judging Cayne was the last thing she wanted to do.
    *
    The next day was better. No one asked about her feelings, and Cayne managed to rearrange the seats so the rearmost two faced the back window and the other two faced the front, meaning the two of them could hold hands and play footsie without anybody noticing.
    Cayne seemed mostly over the über villain remark, but Julia figured it was still on his mind, because he seemed even more sweet and solicitous than he had the day before. As for her, she’d decided to split Cayne’s history off from him and consider it an entirely separate entity. There was Cayne, and there were the Things Cayne Had Done. Not the same. This made sense to her, because if he’d never grown overnight and been attacked by Killin’s villagers, then been adopted by the sociopathic Nephilim king, Cayne would have just been an ordinary dude. (One who would also be dead by now, she realized with a start).
    True, there hadn’t been a literal gun to his head, but what else would he have done?
    Their destination-of-the-moment came into view—a swanky, all-glass hotel framed by tree-covered mountains and nestled beside a little slip of water that probably fed into Lake St. Moritz.
    Meredith found a spot in the spacious, tree-dotted parking lot in front of the entrance to the aptly named Glass Tower Hotel, and Carlin and Edan hopped out to check the roof. Drew claimed the front seat to flip through radio stations in search of an English news radio program, and Julia looked over at Cayne, who was looking at her.
    “How ya doin’?” she smiled.
    “Well,” he said, smiling back.
    “Your greetings are much improved. Carlin is correct. ‘Well’ is the most polite response. But you can also say ‘not bad’ or ‘pretty good’ or anything in between. You don’t always have to be ‘well’.”
    Cayne’s smile got more lopsided. “Carlin said not to listen to you on the ‘good.’ She said it’s not proper grammar.”
    “What does Carlin know?” Julia snorted. “She’s from Spain.”
    “She says people from the Southern United States are known for incorrect syntax.” Cayne winked, reaching out and pressing her nose