Darkness Bred Read Online Free PDF Page B

should listen to these women more. We will work together.”
    “You mean fight together,” Niles said, but quietly. “Never think we aren’t entering a battle or that it might not be violent.”
    “We know the risks,” Sean said.
    Niles gave Elin all of his attention. “If you were convinced Tarhazian would accept you back into the only world you’ve known—in return for having you spy on us—what then?”
    “She has already given her answer,” Sean said. “Elin would never—”
    Elin’s hand on his arm stopped him. “No matter what I say, you will doubt me,” she told Niles. “But I hope you will come to trust me.”

chapter THREE
    N iles stared at Elin for a long time and she stared back. Sean felt the battle of wills to his core and he admired his small love for showing no fear in front of the alpha.
    “Trust,” Niles said at last. “Time will tell but the stakes are high, Elin. I respect you but I cannot yet trust you.”
    She turned away.
    “Forgive me for joining the party uninvited,” a deep, even, male voice said.
    Sean looked over his shoulder. Dr. Saul VanDoren lounged carelessly at a nearby table. “I didn’t see you arrive,” Sean said, knowing well that the vampire could come and go as he wished, where he wished.
    “You were all so involved in your discussion,” Saul said, resting his elbows on the table so that his full white sleeves draped elegantly. He laced his long, slender fingers together. “You hounds do have some interesting rituals. I wonder you don’t find them onerous with so much waiting and watching—and wanting—attached to your mating habits.”
    “Damn it.” Sean paused, trying to control his flaring temper. He smiled at Elin. “Our habits , as you call them, have their own benefits. But they won’t interest you.”
    “We are having a private meeting here,” Niles said.
    Sean sensed his alpha’s annoyance at the vampire’s interruption. They had formed a tenuous friendship with him, or should that be tolerance, during a previous battle with Whidbey’s werehound pack.
    “Very private,” Saul said. His dark eyes could appear black, as they did now.
    “Should we put the rest of our discussion off?” Sean said. “It’s very late.”
    “And you want to take Elin to Two Chimneys,” Saul said, tilting his head to one side. His long, dark hair slid forward, framing his pale, saturnine face. “How kind of Leigh to insist you use it. But then, Leigh was always kind.”
    A subtle warning raised every hackle for Sean. This man’s words might be innocuous enough but the threat behind them was unmistakable. Unmistakable and strange. What was he trying to say, or not to say?
    The pulse beating in Elin’s neck was very visible, and fast. Sean stared at it as he raised a hand toward her and she grasped it, hard.
    “How long have you been here, Saul?” Niles said. “You must have heard our conversation earlier.” His mild tone didn’t fool Sean.
    “Not long,” Saul said. “Introduce me to your lady, Sean. You have good taste. She is very beautiful—very delicate .”
    “I am Elin,” she said before Sean could respond. Her grip on him grew even tighter. “I am of the fae.”
    “I know,” Saul said. “You must be the one cast out by that aberration, Tarhazian. How lucky you are to be free of that.”
    The man knew too much. “We are glad to have Elin with us permanently,” Sean said. “She’s where she belongs.”
    “I do hope so.” Saul rose fluidly, his long, dark coat spreading behind him as he approached. When he was close enough, he pointed at Elin, brought a forefinger near, but not quite near enough, to touch her jaw.
    The slightest gesture with that finger and Elin raised her chin. She looked steadily and directly into his eyes.
    “There is a lot they assume about you,” Saul said. He smiled, “But how could they not, when they haven’t learned the rest.”
    Sean surged to his feet and pulled her against him. “What do you want,