Forged by Fate Read Online Free PDF

known that name.
    Justin closed his eyes and took in a long, deep breath. “I can’t reach him. Man, if he knew how much pain you were in…”
    “What?” she asked when his voice faded away.
    “Nothing. Now, please, just stick to the story about the…attacker.”
    “Like I could tell anyone that he had black claws and fangs, then disappeared when—hey—that blur. That was Theo. That—how?”
    “Be calm.” Justin fixed his eyes on hers, and the blue swirled with amber wisps. What looked like smoke, only reddish-orange, ignited within his irises. Sadie’s vision tilted and a cool sensation encompassed her mind.
    Then a clap of thunder rattled through her skull, all the way down her spine. She flinched, breaking contact, and brought her hands to her temple. “Oh my gosh. What the hell did you do? God, my brain is going to spill out my ears.”
    Justin jumped to his feet, eyes wide and mouth open.
    “What. The. Hell?” Tears stung, but she bit the side of her cheek to send them away to their hiding place. No crying allowed . Never let anyone see how much it hurts. She’d learned that early on at the group homes.
    “I’m sorry. I—”
    “Ms. Nowland. Please come with me.”
    Sadie held Justin’s gaze another long breath, then got to her feet. He’d done something to her. Or at least tried to. The flicker of amber she’d seen in his eyes was gone. Her heart hollowed out with fear—no, disbelief.
    “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Please. Will you abide by the story?” Justin asked in a hushed tone. “I know you don’t know me or my brother, but you see the mark on my clothing. Trust me. I’m on your side. I vow to protect you with my life.”
    With his life? “None of this makes sense.” She stepped away from the pleading stare of the total stranger.
    A stranger she, for some reason, trusted.
    Yep. She was losing her mind.
    “This way, please.” The tall, uniformed wannabe cop waved Sadie toward him.
    She swallowed down the pain forging a fiery path up her arm and moved forward, following him around a maze of cubicles. Justin bore the mark that appeared on her shoulder days ago, and the fact that he mentioned it indicated he knew she knew about the mark. Maybe even that it was tattooed on her. But how?
    The guy led Sadie to an office with glass walls where Dasha sat in a chair opposite a cherrywood desk.
    “Dasha.”
    She turned and bolted to her feet. They met at the door.
    “Are you okay?” Dasha scanned Sadie.
    “I’m fine.” So not fine, but she needed to hurry this interview up and get back to Justin. “Are you? You’re the one who got knocked out.”
    “I’m good. They checked me out already.” She kneaded her neck. “Just a little sore.”
    The guy ushered them into the fishbowl office, and Sadie sat in the first chair in front of the desk. Fatigue demanded it. Weird. She was never tired. Then again, she hadn’t eaten in about twenty-four hours, and she had a slash up her arm that might or might not have been from a claw. Okay, it was from a claw. She knew the truth, just couldn’t quite accept it yet.
    Sadie squeezed her arm and focused through the throbbing. “So…what happens next?”
    The security guy sat behind his big desk. “Ms. Wells told us her story. What’s yours?”
    Sadie glanced at Dasha and nodded. Thankfully, she’d been knocked unconscious, so she hadn’t seen much.
    “We were heading to the student center to get a snack. I’d just taken a test, and I was hungry.” Total lie .
    The campus cop toyed with his gray mustache as he nodded for Sadie to continue.
    “This guy came up behind us, knocked Dasha out, and tried to grab me. I shook loose, and he ran off.”
    Dasha straightened. Sadie cast her a look, hoping she wouldn’t contradict the story.
    The cop swung his attention to Dasha, then back to Sadie. “What’d this guy look like?”
    She let out a breath. “Tall. Dark eyes. Dark skin. White teeth.” She left out the fact that they