Darkness Awakened (Primal Heat Trilogy #1) (Order of the Blade) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Blade.
    The odds were not in favor of the girl if the big, bad warrior got cranky about her invading his inner sanctum…which was so not a constructive thought. She had to focus on positive thoughts, not envision her miserable demise at the hands of Quinn Masters.
    For all she knew, this wasn’t even his house. Rumors of where the Order members lived abounded on the Web. Most were false leads, and Grace could usually see through those fakes because she was an Illusionist, a magical being whose very essence was grounded in the disparity between reality and illusion. Grace knew truth, and she knew lies, because she was one of those dreaded, hunted, shunned creatures who could cast false pictures into the world around her. She could create dark, twisted images that brought terrible things onto those who were exposed to them. They were horrible scenes that she were so hard to suppress and so terrifyingly difficult to hide from the world…and from herself.
    The moment she’d read that Quinn Master’s home was located in this remote area of southeastern Oregon, she’d felt it was true. She’d been certain he was her answer. His name had practically pulsed on her computer screen, calling to her. She fought daily to pretend she wasn’t a monster who deserved all the assassinations her kind had experienced over the centuries, but when her talents had shown her the truth about where she could find Quinn, she’d been thankful for who she was.
    For that one minute, for one brief moment in her whole life, she’d been happy to be what she was. Deliriously happy. Insanely grateful.
    Then grim reality had intruded, and the weight of all she carried had descended upon her once again.
    After reading that nugget about Quinn’s home, Grace had embraced that last chance she’d been given, no matter how risky, far-fetched or unlikely it was. She’d paused long enough to throw critical necessities into a backpack, and then she’d taken off that very night to search for the elusive warrior no one in mainstream society had talked to in years. One who was only rumored to exist. One who was said to be deadly and brutal, like all the other Order members. A warrior no sane person would try to track down.
    If she was wrong, and nearby townspeople were right that the half-man who lived here really did hunt people at night... God, please don’t let me be wrong.
    The human world buzzed with rumors of the metaphysical. Humans knew about beings like the Calydons and Illusionists, but they didn’t truly understand what they were, or what their powers were. Calydons were fierce immortal warriors created by violence thousands of years ago and destined to die by violence as well. They lived on the fringes of society, too dangerous to mingle with most other beings. They cared little about mixing it up with the human world, taking care of their own agendas within the dangerous subculture of the Otherworld.
    Illusionists were different. They fit nowhere. Everyone feared them, everyone hated them. All they could do was try to hide and assimilate, hoping that no one figured out what they really were. It was easier to blend in as a human than to fight off vigilantes who wanted these threats to humanity wiped out.
    Because that’s exactly what Grace could be if she lost control: a threat to humanity.
    The night settled darkly around Grace as she began to walk down the long driveway. Her boots scuffed on the pebbles, and her feet sank into the muddy earth. A cool mist drifted against her cheeks, and she shivered, pulling her jacket more tightly around her as the woods thickened. She wished she’d brought a heavier coat and warmer clothes.
    God, she wanted to be home right now, not heading down some god-forsaken path into who knew what hell. But what did she have to go home to?
    She’d already been fired from her job at the yoga studio, because having one of their instructors related to an Otherworld murderer had seriously cut down on class attendance.