Daughter of the Thirteen: Bourbon Street Witches Book 1 Read Online Free PDF Page A

a time that you would smile when you saw me. You know I would never harm you,” he added.
    What was he saying?
    She’d only seen him three times in her life, and she couldn’t recall smiling at him at all.
    “It is not you I fear. It is the evil that you carry with you.”
    Marcos smiled, but he could not mask the pain or the anger that leaped into his eyes. “You are a little fool. My evil pales in comparison to what is hunting you.”
    He was at her side so swiftly that she had no time to react.
    His movements were not that of a man, at least no man she’d ever seen. He moved unnaturally, so fast that she did not see him move when he closed the gap of safety she’d created.
    With her arm in his iron grip, he led her into a nearby alley.
    A rat scurried away as they moved by it, but she barely noticed.
    There was little sunlight to illuminate the space between the two buildings. At the far end of the alley, a man lounged against a pail of trash, likely unconscious from strong drink.
    The isolation was unnerving.
    Laurel’s eyes darted around - looking for an escape.
    “What about your lover, Laurel? Was I right?” A dark smiled touched his lips. “Does he hold you in such high regard that he would make you his wife?”
    It was true. The day after her encounter with Marcos St. Claire, she’d confronted Philippe in the garden. In the beginning, he’d been adamant about his love for her, but when Laurel stood her ground, he’d admitted the truth.
    He’d tried to soothe her, but she’d been overwhelmed with anger. After she’d tossed a furious storm of words at him, Philippe finally told her how it was.
    Many men in New Orleans took mistresses, and she was his. He spoke about it as if it were something she should be thankful for.
    In a fit of rage, Laurel struck him.
    She’d been shocked by the fury she saw in Philippe’s eyes in that moment. Raising her arms, she’d shielded her face from the attack she fully expected.
    But it didn’t happen.
    Instead, he’d smiled, but it was a dark - angry smile. “Good day Laurel,” he told before turning his back on her as if she meant nothing to him at all.
    Surprisingly, she’d felt betrayed, but little sadness.
    She was a wiser to the ways of the opposite sex now. At least she could thank Philippe for this.
    “Ah, I see that you have already confirmed that what I told you is true.” Marcos’s voice brought Laurel back to the present.
    Laurel lifted her chin defiantly.
    She refused to back away from this brute. Never again would she back down from any man who would try to deceive or manipulate her.
    “You are no different than Philippe,” she said, pointing her finger accusingly.
    In her anger, she actually took a step toward him, taking him off guard.
    “You would take me to your bed … despite the fact that you are charged with being my guardian and protector!”
    Marcos threw his head back in deep laughter. “ Mademoiselle , you have more fire than I thought. What you fail to understand is that my taking you to my bed is my way of protecting you.”
    “So you say my uncle gave you guardianship so that you could …” Laurel’s eyes were slits of anger.
    “Now you are seeing the truth Laurel, but it wasn’t so that I could take your innocence, but so that you could lay with the Dark Prince and conceive a child.”
    What Marcos was saying was unbelievable.
    “Why would my uncle do such a thing? What kind of monster would send his niece to live with someone to be his mistress, or to the devil himself, if I were to believe what you are saying?” Once more, Laurel’s anger pushed her toward him.
    Marcos said nothing, but stared at her with eyes of molten fire.
    Before she had time to react, he grabbed her hair and forced her head back, capturing her lips in a punishing kiss. As soon as his tongue entered her mouth, she was lost in visions of sleek - wet bodies, moving in rhythm. She saw herself with her legs spread, impaled by the flesh of man and