Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

promise it tastes good just the way it is."
    Shrugging, Azalea pulled her bowl close and began to eat. She shoveled the food into her mouth and seemed to be enjoying it, but Ean couldn't tell if her expressions were sincere or just a part of her act. His rumbling stomach interrupted his thoughts and told him to get to eating. The stew did smell extremely appetizing, especially after a day without eating. Filling his spoon with stew, Ean took a tentative slurp.
    The stew was as good as Dotain had said! Ean began to scoop spoonful after spoonful into his mouth. He could understand now why the man had said they wouldn't need extra spices. The broth had a little kick to it that was starting to numb his tongue. It wasn't enough to make him stop eating though, and he continued to scoop large spoonfuls into his mouth.
    Looking over in between gulps, he noticed Azalea had slowed down a bit. She only took little sips as she watched Dotain eat. Her expression was peculiar, but Ean dismissed it as just another quirk. Probably some way she was trying to seduce their host. It was obvious that Dotain was already picturing the two of them together by the way he was openly looking at her now. Shaking his head, Ean focused on eating.
    Whew! Whatever was in the stew was really starting to get to him. His tongue was almost completely numb now and he felt a little flushed. Tired too, probably the days of traveling finally taking its toll on his body. He had to pause from eating for a moment to wipe some sweat from his forehead, but only for a moment. He could handle being a little warm, the stew was that good. He continued to scoop more and more of it into his mouth...
    ...and then dropped his spoon.
    His fingers suddenly felt very heavy, as if something was pushing down on them. Had the past couple of days worn him out that much? Reaching over to where the spoon had landed on the table, he tried to pick it up, but his hand had gotten too heavy, and he had trouble working his fingers. Frowning, he tried to lift it again but had no luck. It was becoming quite frustrating as he wanted to eat more! Maybe his other hand...no, that was hanging limply at his side. His thoughts were fuzzy, more so than if he was just tired, like he was trying to think while...uh...doing something that made it hard to think.
    A dull pain washed across the side of his face. At first he thought he had been slapped, but realized that his head had dropped down onto the table. From his vantage point he could see both Dotain and Azalea looking at him. The man was wearing a grin that did not instill a good feeling in Ean's fuddled brain. Azalea on the other hand was looking at him with chagrin, shaking her head as she slowly pushed her own bowl away. She was always judging him. He was just tired...so tired...

 
     
     
     
     
    THE FIRST THING EAN noticed was that he was face down on a wooden floor covered with brownish-red splotches. Years of being a healer had made him familiar with stains like those--blood. His tongue felt stiff and dry like it was coated with dirt. He licked his lips trying to push away the nastiness with his own saliva. And that's when he noticed it. A pale face with lifeless eyes staring right at him--well, no, more like through him. As if the eyes were looking past this world and into the next.
    Giving a yelp, he scrambled backwards on the floor until his back hit the wall. He struggled to make sense of what had happened. Dotain was dead. A chill went down his spine. What had happened? The man had been so hospitable...
    "Don't look so upset," a woman's voice cut through the haze of his mind. His eyes found Azalea leaning back in her chair, her wings tight against her back and her pale blue feet up on the table. She was picking at her teeth with a long, blue fingernail. "The fool man tried to drug us."
    "He...what?"
    "Drugged us. Planned on killing us. Well, kill you then do some things to me most would find unpleasant. You should have seen the look on