Clutch of the Demon Read Online Free PDF Page B

Being a healer, Dawn knew the difference.    
    "She's cured," Dawn said, shaking her head in astonished wonder. "What did you do?"
    Cara shouldered the backpack, stared at Sky's peaceful face and memorized every inch of it. Cara kissed her sister and ran one hand down her baby smooth cheek before she faced her mom.
    "It's done," Cara said in a quiet voice. She didn't have time to explain and she didn't want to either. Cara wrapped her arms around her mom who hugged her back almost desperately.  
    "Don't go," Dawn sobbed, her mother's intuition already sensing what was to come.  
    "I made a promise."
    "What did you do?" Dawn repeated fiercely.
    "What needed to be done. Sky deserves to live."
    "And you don't?" Dawn said harshly and brushed back Cara's dark hair. "You never saw what I did when I look at you."
    "You're going to be fine. I can take care of myself."
    "Don't leave us."
    Cara stared into her mother's heartbroken face and lied. "We'll see each other again."
    Cara pried herself out of her mother's hold. Dawn stood beside Sky's bed like an avenging angel. There was a devastated knowledge in her eyes. Dawn knew she would never see her oldest daughter again. Cara blew a kiss and backed out of the room. She took several steps away from Sky's room and felt as if she'd been run through with a sword. The pain that shafted from her heart through her back was so great, she couldn't breathe. Cara hunched over with tears pouring down her face.  
    She could do this. She had to do this. She had to walk away from her family. That was the deal. When the pain eased enough for her to breathe, she straightened and forced herself to put one foot in from of the other. Eventually, she walked out of the hospital and into the night. She slipped into a taxi at the curb and asked to be taken back to the airport.  
    "No luggage?" the driver asked.  
    She shook her head and sat with the backpack still strapped to her. It was done. Sky would live and she would never have to worry about Luc retaliating against her family. She couldn't get her mother's expression out of her mind. Tears trickled down her face, but she didn't make a sound.  
    The airport was busy. The taxi had a hard time finding a place to pull off to the side so he stopped way past her airline where there was no traffic. The driver apologized, but she didn't care. She tossed him a generous tip and didn't respond when he winked at her. She stood on the sidewalk for a moment and eyed the automatic glass doors that led into the terminal. Every time the doors opened, cold air swept over her before it abruptly cut off. She couldn't take the final steps that would cut her off completely from her family.
    You're dallying.  
    The Ancient's voice galvanized her forward. She maneuvered her way through the crowd and just before she walked through the doors, something brushed over her senses. Her sixth sense pinged. She casually turned away and acted as if she heard someone call her name. She scanned the harried crowd and when she found her target, her eyes didn't linger on him. He was young, probably several months over twenty-one. He was average looking and the only odd thing about his appearance was the brown trench coat he wore. He must have borrowed it from his dad because it was outdated and didn't fit well. In the dim light, his face gleamed with sweat. He skulked at the corner of the building and his eyes flicked restlessly over the crowd.  
    What are you doing?
    She shushed the dragon and didn't care when he went ominously silent. Cara cradled a hand over her ear as if she was talking on a cell phone. She didn't need to look at her target to know where he was at all times. She ambled aimlessly, circling ever closer to him. To keep up the pretense, she murmured, "Yeah" and "Umm hmm." The closer she came to him, the further she drifted from everyone else. She forced a laugh and felt the target's eyes move over her before he dismissed her. He didn't register the danger until it