Dawning of Light Read Online Free PDF Page A

Olivia, Cecilia suspected he was contemplating pressing her back against the wall and ravishing her on the spot. Her increased randiness had apparently affected him as well, which Cecilia supposed wasn’t entirely surprising, considering they shared her magic.
    “We have to go down to dinner,” Olivia reminded him. Tanner reluctantly pulled his gaze away from her and nodded.
    “Are you coming, Cecilia?”
    “I suppose I do not have a choice,” she grumbled as she allowed Tanner to escort her and Olivia both down the staircase.
    Genevieve Bennett, the queen of the lightbearers, had decided to have this particular party in the formal dining room and the front foyer of the beach house that she and her mate had called home since their mating ceremony, more than forty years previously.
    The dining room, like most rooms in lightbearer homes, was comprised almost entirely of windows. It faced the cliff upon which the beach house sat and afforded a breathtaking view of Lake Michigan beyond. The sun was just beginning to dip low in the sky over the lake, sending orange and red ribbons of light across the snow-covered landscape and into the house.
    The queen had directed servants to remove all furniture except the vast dining table in the center of the room. Then tall cocktail tables, draped with colorful linens that were no doubt meant to combat the somewhat dreary landscape outside, were scattered about the room. Trays of water sprinkled with rose petals and floating candles sat on every horizontal surface. The dining table was laden with an assortment of some of Carley’s most tempting creations.
    Servers wearing black-and-silver uniforms walked around bearing trays of appetizers and warm apple cider spiked with rum. Cecilia pulled a mug from a passing tray, but when Olivia reached for one, Tanner smacked her hand.
    “Water for my mate, please,” he growled at the nearest server.
    “I can have apple cider without rum,” Olivia protested.
    “No unpasteurized products while my mate is carrying my pup in her womb.”
    “I hate to break it to you, but that’s a human theory, not a lightbearer—nor, no doubt, a shifter—contraindication,” Olivia told him.
    “I read it in one of your books,” he replied.
    “You read one of my baby books?” Olivia asked the question in a watery voice, and Cecilia worked hard not to roll her eyes. Her cousin had become a veritable watering pot ever since she’d discovered she was with child.
    “Excuse me,” Cecilia said, and she slipped away, unnoticed, as the reverently in love Tanner and Olivia stared into one another’s eyes.
    “Pretty damn disgusting, isn’t it?”
    Cecilia gave a start and very nearly spilled apple cider down the front of her dress. She turned and gave Finnegan a cool look. “Don’t sneak up on me like that,” she chided.
    “I didn’t sneak. I walked. I can’t help it you don’t pay attention to your surroundings.”
    “I see you managed to finagle an invitation to one of the queen’s parties,” she said coolly, although in truth, she wasn’t surprised. For some reason, her aunt adored the shifters who had taken up residence within the protective wards a few months ago. Cecilia didn’t understand it. They were simply beings, just like the lightbearers. Why was her aunt—and truthfully, so many others—so obsessed with them?
    Finn lifted his mug and sipped. “Tanner invited me. Mentioned Carley was cooking. Met your parents a minute ago. Lovely people,” he added, decidedly tongue-in-cheek.
    “Did my father produce a sword and challenge you?”
    Cecilia’s parents were, despite the fact that their king had accepted one into his home and family, exceedingly antishifter.
    “No, but I could tell he was considering it. I’m pretty sure the fact that I saved your ass the last time you got into trouble with the shifters is the only reason he didn’t.”
    She rolled her eyes. “I didn’t ‘get into trouble with the shifters,’ you know. They