Defiance (Rise of the Iliri Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

moments, she found herself still drawn to the little assassin and unable to stop herself.  He was shy at times, yet so strong-willed that she could barely make him submit.  It was alluring.  Most likely, it was the same reason she fell for Blaec.  He was the only man she'd ever known who could best her, and she desired her partner to be as strong as she was.  Jase could be, she knew, if he tried.
    Arden cantered on, putting distance between them, and Jase made no move to stop her.  Silently, she thanked him for that.  Once out of sight, she let her mare slow, watching the steam rising from the horse's nostrils as Sal patted her neck. 
    She knew she loved Blaec.  Her feelings for him were easy to understand and so amazingly human.  The emotions Jase evoked were harder to describe.  She could feel it each time he entered a room.  She knew that when she needed him, he would always be there.  Most of all, she felt no shame in her iliri instincts around him.  Only with him could she truly be herself, never fearing that she was acting like an animal.
    The thought crossed her mind, and she reined in her mare.  She was pure iliri and had always tried to prevent herself from acting like an animal.  The grauori they'd met were so similar, yet still beasts, but had hands.  Strangely, she'd heard Jase in her head earlier. 
    Jase? she tried.
    The brush of his mind flooded her with happiness.  It was an answer, even if not in words.  She spun her mare and raced back to him.
    "You heard me?" she asked, cantering up.  His hands had gone to his blades at the sound of her voice, but she waved him off.  "I don't think it's a threat, but think about it.  Arctic's three months away.  When was the last time you were able to link with me?"
    He looked at nothing for a moment, searching his mind before his twilight eyes met hers.  "With the grauori.  We should be a few klicks from 'em by now, and we were na invited into a link.  If I heard ya, it's cuz we piggy-backed on someone else's."
    "Right.  Could we still be using their link between us?"
    "I guess it's possible.  I mean, they are na iliri," he explained.  "Normally we have ta be within a certain range.  It's just an extension a our senses really.  The smell of them is enough ta trigger it, and direct touch can set a person inta a link.  Well, if ya touch the linker.  Ya think it was Worau?"
    "No," she said, shaking her head.  "I really don't.  I can't explain it, but I'm pretty sure it is a female."
    "Ya did na touch her mate and we know that the other was healing – so not a linker – but both were male.  Maast, ya slipped inta ours b'fore ya were supposed ta, so yer obviously good at it.  What are ya thinking Sal?"
    "Remember the histories we found?  That crate of documents in the Escean Pass?  Remember what they said?"
    "Yeh."  He nodded, confused.  "I read hundreds of 'em."
    "Jase!" she snarled in her excitement.  "They said white beasts struck in the night.  Beasts, not people.  Humans have always referenced us as people – throughout our history – but those papers said beasts.  Animals."
    His eyes widened as comprehension dawned.  "The grauori.  They domesticated us from the grauori?"
    "It only makes sense.  We've never heard of them before, but they knew about us.  How often have we both been told to stop acting like animals?"
    "More than I can count," he admitted, his mind working.  "Sal, can ya feel the link?  Think, kitten.  Can ya trace the link?"
    "I think so." 
    She let herself drift inside her head, seeking the pull of the mental connection.  She'd never consciously followed one before, but the Blades all used a variation of this to know where each other was.  This linker's mind felt different, foreign somehow, yet familiar.  She could almost feel the female trotting above the snow, her splayed hands open to prevent breaking through the crust.  Beside her, a male moved silently.  As Sal politely nudged the mind, a