Dark Heart of Magic Read Online Free PDF

north in New York, near Bigtime,” Devon explained. “Carl, her dad, is Nikolai Volkov’s brother. Carl and Katia head up the Family branch where they live.”
    â€œA much smaller branch, from the rumors I’ve heard,” Blake piped up. “It’s just you and your dad now, right?”
    Katia’s smile slipped a bit. “Yeah. Just us now.”
    â€œCome to town for the tournament?” Devon asked.
    Katia’s unease melted away, and her face warmed again. “Yep, representing the Volkovs. Are you competing again this year?”
    Devon nodded. “I am.”
    Blake snorted. “Not that he has any chance of winning.” He slung his arm around his sister’s shoulder. “In case you all have forgotten, Deah is the defending champion, and she’s the favorite to win the tournament again this year.”
    Deah shrugged off his arm, then looked at Katia. “But you gave me a really good fight last year.”
    Her voice wasn’t unkind, but Katia’s smile vanished, and she didn’t respond. Nobody liked to be reminded that she’d lost.
    I hated to be a totally clueless tourist rube, but I had no idea what they were talking about. “Um, what tournament?”
    All five of them looked at me like they couldn’t believe I’d asked that question.
    â€œThe Tournament of Blades,” Devon said. “The Families sponsor it every summer.”
    â€œYeah,” Felix added. “Several people are picked from each Family, and they all compete out at the fairgrounds until there’s just one person left.”
    â€œOh. That.”
    I did know what they were talking about—I’d just never actually gone to the tournament. I’d asked my mom once if we could go, the last summer she’d been alive, but she’d told me no, that there was too great a risk of someone from one of the Families recognizing her. She’d left the Sinclairs and Cloudburst Falls before I’d been born, and she had never let anyone except for Mo know that we came back to town every summer.
    After she’d been murdered, I’d been so busy getting shipped from one foster home to another, then striking out on my own and trying to steal enough to make ends meet, that I hadn’t paid much attention to the tournament, except for all the extra tourists it brought to town, giving me more phones and cameras to swipe and take to Mo to fence.
    â€œYou seem to know an awful lot about the tournament, Morales,” Blake sneered, “for someone who’s never actually entered.”
    Felix’s hands clenched into fists again, and an embarrassed blush spread across his cheeks.
    â€œAnd you talk a lot for someone whose kid sister beat him out at the tournament last year,” I shot right back.
    Blake opened his mouth to make some snide remark, but Deah put her hand on his arm.
    â€œLet’s go,” she said. “We’ve wasted enough time with these losers. We need to practice for the tournament, remember?”
    â€œYeah. Right.”
    But Blake wasn’t nearly as enthusiastic about the contest as he’d been before. He glowered at me again; then he and Deah headed down the path away from us.
    Devon, Felix, and Katia all relaxed as soon as the Draconis vanished from view, but I kept glaring at the spot where Blake had disappeared.
    Katia wrinkled her nose. “Um, what’s that smell?”
    Felix winced. “Oh, that’s us. We were dealing with a tree troll earlier.”
    â€œWe were just on our way back to the mansion to get cleaned up,” Devon said.
    Katia nodded. “Maybe we can catch up tomorrow then.”
    She might have been talking to Devon, but she looked at Felix as she said the words.
    â€œSure,” Felix said. “That would be great. Just text me.”
    â€œI’ll do that.”
    Katia leaned over and kissed him on the cheek again. She gave him another bright smile, waved