Dark Alpha's Embrace Read Online Free PDF Page A

was too tired to call the landlord or try to fix the problem herself.
    She went to her stash of wood and started a fire in the hearth. When the fire blazed high, she dragged her chair closer and sat.
    With her legs curled up and two quilts atop her, she stared into the fire. Her thoughts kept returning to one thing—Kyran. She hadn’t expected him to be so nice. He could’ve easily killed her, but neither he nor Talin harmed her.
    All they did was take her books. River couldn’t even think about that. As soon as the board learned they were gone, she would be out of a job.
    The work and time she put into finding her family’s library was for naught. She’d lost what books she worked hard to acquire. Even then, they hadn’t been hers. They belonged to the library, and thereby the city of Edinburgh.
    River closed her eyes and moaned. She was going to make herself ill if she continued to think along this vein. Perhaps she’d call in sick tomorrow. It would be her first time, but she was going to have to start a new life anyway.
    The wood popped in the fire, sizzling into the silence of the room. Just as she’d sizzled when Kyran was close to her.
    He’d moved so quickly. She blinked and he was there, pressing her against the wall with his hard body. His touch had been firm, but gentle. A complete contradiction to what her aunt warned her.
    River snuggled deeper into the quilts. She didn’t fight the sleep when it claimed her.
    *   *   *
    Kyran stared at the books. Every one of them was in a different language.
    “It’s Fae,” Cael said.
    Fintan snorted, his red-rimmed white eyes passing over each book. “Ancient Fae. These languages have been dead for eons.”
    “Shouldn’t you be able to use magic to read it?” Jordyn asked.
    Baylon smiled at his woman. “If only it were that easy.”
    “There are some things our magic can’t do,” Cael explained. “With the humans, if you don’t learn the language, it dies. That’s what happened with our race as well.”
    Kyran motioned to the books. “We got cocky, is what happened. The Fae believed these languages would never die.”
    “They didn’t just die,” Fintan said. “They were obliterated from record.”
    Jordyn pointed to the books. “There are twelve different languages here. How many were there?”
    “At one time, over thirty,” Cael said.
    Her turquoise eyes widened. “How many are there now?”
    “One,” Talin answered.
    Anticipating her next question, Baylon said, “The thirty languages represent the thirty most powerful families—both Dark and Light. The families warred. When one of them would win, they eradicated that language.”
    “So who won in the end?” Jordyn asked.
    They were all silent. Kyran didn’t like to think of the past, because his family played a major role in it. Only Cael knew the particulars, and that was how Kyran wanted it.
    “We speak the common tongue now,” Cael responded. “Every Fae knew the language. At the end, when there was hardly anyone left of the thirty families, the majority of the Fae rose up against them. It was the one time the Light and Dark were united.”
    Jordyn softly closed the book in front of her. “Then you can take these back to River. If I can’t read them, they do me no good.”
    “But they were on your list,” Baylon pointed out.
    Kyran caught Jordyn’s gaze. “Where did you find that list, by the way?”
    “I did a search for all books containing any information on the Fae, fairies, Death, hell, and the Netherworld. I already had most of the books, and none of them offered anything that could help. So then I went to a black site and did the same search. A list of thirty books came up related to the Fae.”
    Cael’s shock was evident on his face. “Thirty. I’ll be damned.”
    “How did the books get into mortal hands?” Fintan asked.
    Baylon nodded. “I’d like to know that as well.”
    “Kyran, didn’t River say she’d been collecting these? She may know that