Darkness Possessed (Order of the Blade) Read Online Free PDF Page A

still over the computer keys as her gaze snapped to the far side of the darkened office. Standing in the doorway of the overcrowded backroom of their counseling center was Jordyn Leahy, the director of the women's shelter Rhiannon had started working for six months earlier as an admin. Jordyn couldn't be more than a couple years older than Rhiannon, but she carried an air about her that made Rhiannon think she'd lived many more years than she looked. Maybe it was the business suits and pristine bun she always wore, the steady set to her jaw, or the dull brown frames of her reading glasses. Or maybe it was just the way she tended to observe silently before reacting to any situation.
    Right now, however, she was wearing jeans and a pink tee shirt, with her blond hair up in a ponytail. She wasn't wearing glasses, and her eyes were big and blue, making her look like she was about twelve years old. She looked young, and Rhiannon realized she had no lines of age on her face. So, she was actually a woman who was young, but had a lifetime of experience behind her.
    Like Rhiannon.
    Despite her fresh-faced appearance, Jordyn's gaze was penetrating and unyielding, a startling departure from the warm, nurturing persona she used with the battered women who snuck in their front door. "Well?" she prompted. "It's after midnight, and you're skulking around our offices. What's going on?"
    "Um..." Instinctively glancing at the open window and calculating how fast she could make it to that exit if the need arose, Rhiannon cleared her throat. Her pulse thundering, she casually leaned back in the folding chair, trying to give the impression that she had nothing to hide. She didn't want Jordyn on alert. If Jordyn thought Rhiannon wasn't going to bolt, it would take a split second longer for her to react if she fled. Those precious milliseconds delaying Jordyn's reaction could be the difference between Rhiannon getting away, and being trapped.
    It was so late that she hadn't expected anyone else to be in the office. She hadn't wanted to go home tonight. She was still too shaken up by her reaction to the man in the pool, both the fact that she'd responded to him as a woman, and the fact that he'd gotten a jump on her with his gun. She felt vulnerable, and that scared her. Although she'd wanted desperately to retreat to the apartment that had become her sanctuary, going there had seemed like a poor choice, because if someone wanted to find her, home is where they would look. Instead, she'd come to the office, but it had taken only a few minutes before she'd begun to feel a creepy sensation down her spine as if someone was watching her.
    Had it been Jordyn, before she'd presented herself? Or was someone else lurking in the shadows, waiting for the right moment? If there wasn't a threat right now, there would be soon.
    There was no safe place now. She'd blown it.
    Glancing again at the window, half-expecting to see an untamed warrior standing there, ready to grab her, she managed a nonchalant shrug in response to Jordyn's question. "What are you talking about?" She tried to keep her voice as calm as possible.
    Jordyn's blue eyes were glittering with interest. "Do you remember that woman who came in earlier today? The one with the expensive suit?"
    Rhiannon swallowed at the reference to the woman she'd been avenging tonight on that second floor balcony. "Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention." She swiveled the chair restlessly, unable to sit still. What did Jordyn know?
    Jordyn slowly strolled into the makeshift office and eased into the folding chair in front of Rhiannon's desk. "Do you like plants? Like vines? Do you have an affinity for vines, Rhiannon?"
    Rhiannon went still, trying to keep her face expressionless. How on earth did Jordyn know what had happened? The fear that had been circling restlessly in her mind all evening suddenly congealed in her stomach. If word got out, she might be found. Dammit. For five years she'd never tapped into her