Heart Search Read Online Free PDF

swish.
    “I’ll scry her now.” Jasmine went to the wall and touched the screen. “The cat needs a name.”
    Laev and the cat stared at each other. The young tom’s eyes were a light green. Nice.
    The cat glanced aside, lifted a forepaw, and licked it. You have nice eyes, too.
    Laev figured the compliment was progress. Maybe he could live with it.
    Maybe I can live with you , the tom replied.
    All right, the cat was very telepathic.
    The tom stood and stretched, his back arching in that sinuous way that amazed. Being telepathic is one of My best qualities.
    Laev shielded his thoughts. The cat narrowed his eyes, hissed, batted another piece of papyrus off the desk, followed it down to pounce on it and shred it. I think I will like living here.
    “I think the garden shed would suit you better,” Laev said. “I don’t want a biting cat.”
    The cat looked around and smiled ingratiatingly. No biting.
    “Mother says you should bring—” Jasmine hinted heavily.
    “Brazos,” Laev said.
    Brazos. I like that name. The cat gave the papyrus one last slice of claws, sat proudly.
    “—you should bring Brazos around MidAfternoonBell. She will be squeezing you in as it is.”
    For a moment Laev’s pride was ruffled. He was T’Hawthorn!
    Brazos sneezed.
    “We’ll be there,” Laev said.
    Jasmine relayed that to her mother and the scry screen went dark. The girl beamed at them, nodded. “Great. You can meet with my father before the appointment and convince him to give me gilt to invest. I’ll get my report right to you.” She hurried back to her office and closed the door.
    The tom stalked through the room, tail switching. There is a smell I do not like. He reached a bookcase, stretched tall to insert paws in the dimness of a shelf and yank something from the shadows to fall on the floor. The glass bottle rolled awkwardly and the stopper came off, decanting a puddle of perfume.
    A thick, musky odor filled the room. Nivea’s scent. Laev’s pulse pounded and a headache exploded. He rubbed his temples, staring at the tom, whose eyes were wide.
    Laev and the tom stared at each other before choking. Jasmine bulleted into the room. “What a stink. Smells like that disgusting scent that your wife liked.” She stopped for breath and began coughing.
    “Win—windows open !” Laev snapped.
    The glass of the windows thinned and a brisk spring breeze wafted around the room. Laev circled his desk to stare at the pool that was staining the rug he loved. Brazos shot to a far corner of the room, hissing. Don’t like, don’t like, don’t LIKE.
    “Uh-oh,” Jasmine said thickly, holding her nose.
    “Residence?”
    “Yes, T’Hawthorn.”
    “Please send the housekeeper here to clean up this mess with the proper spells.”
    “Yes, T’Hawthorn. She is on her way.”
    Breathing shallowly, Laev said, “I didn’t know that bottle was there.” He hated the stench, too. The odor of the past, of failure. He’d moved beyond that, but here it was again, clinging like the perfume, reminding him of past mistakes.
    He’d—they’d—ritually cleansed the Residence after Nivea’s death, annually since then. There should have been no more scent of her.
    But he knew in his bones that she must have left other reminders of herself throughout the house. She didn’t like him, but she wouldn’t let herself be forgotten—even if her soul was long gone to circle on the wheel of stars until her next life.
    He gritted his teeth. He wouldn’t let her haunt him.
     
     
    C amellia shifted from foot to foot in a pretty little pastel vet examination room with a high counter that held a bedsponge. The odor of animals pervaded the office suite. She was alone in the room.
    Danith D’Ash had appeared briefly to welcome them, laughing at the curious gleam in Glyssa’s eyes. But before D’Ash brought out the cat who was supposed to be Camellia’s Fam, a horrible emergency alarm pulsed and D’Ash ran.
    Glyssa had stayed in the room for about