Hecate's Own: Heart's Desire, Book 2 Read Online Free PDF

home even when giving them hell for messing up. He
knocked on her door and hoped the older woman would be happy to see him. She’d
sent him to Cleveland to be trained, and instead he’d been humiliated, dissed
and pretty much dismissed.
    Really, when he thought about it, it was nothing new. He was
used to being the black sheep of his family. Maybe he shouldn’t have made such
a big deal out of it.
    The door opened and Zach took a deep breath. There, before
him, was the matriarch of the Evans clan. “Zach?”
    The deep purple T-shirt she wore proclaimed her a fan of
Shania Twain. Her salt-and-pepper hair lay around her shoulders, her dark eyes
clouded with confusion. She had to be the only grandmother he’d ever met who
could wear skinny jeans and make them look good.
    Chris is a lucky son of a bitch. If Lana looked half
as good as her grandmother at that age Chris would have every right to walk
around with a permanent grin.
    “Hey, Annabelle. Can I come in?” He blinked at her, giving
her his best lost-puppy-dog eyes.
    But Annabelle Evans was made of sterner stuff. She crossed
her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at him. “What happened?”
    “I’ll tell you over cookies?” He grinned at her wistfully.
Damn, he was hungry . He hadn’t eaten since that measly slice of airport
pizza.
    Annabelle shook her head and let him in. “Do I really want
to know?”
    He put his head down and headed straight through her row
house to the kitchen. He ignored the bright colors, modern furniture and homey
little touches. He practically ran down the dark hardwood floors past the
traditional, camel-colored sofa. The Spanish-style TV armoire that was
currently open. Annabelle was watching a show where two people were explaining
why a heavyset girl should not wear slinky fabrics. He dashed into the
kitchen and parked his ass at the ebony-stained banquette. He crossed his arms
over the table, rested his head on his arms and waited for the inquisition.
    Annabelle sauntered into the kitchen, shaking her head.
“Right. I don’t want to know.”
    He grinned at her and hoped it didn’t look as ghastly as it
felt. “Cookies?”
    She sighed. “Cookies.”
    She bustled around the kitchen and soon there was a heaping
plate of Oreos and a huge glass of milk in front of him. Zach dug in with
gusto, dipping the chocolate treats into the milk until the cookie was just
so , popping the gooey mess into his mouth as quickly as possible.
    “Enjoy your snack. I’ll be right back.”
    He watched Annabelle leave the room. A few moments later he
heard the jangle of the curtain rods and knew she’d opened the curtains.
“Everything all right?”
    She entered the room and sat next to him with a weary sigh.
“A witch is missing, a young one, from my coven. Her parents have asked me to
look for her.”
    “Damn.” Zach sat straight, all of his instincts on high
alert. Even his wolf took notice, nudging him to give Annabelle any assistance
she required. “Need any help?”
    She eyed him thoughtfully. “Sure. I’d appreciate it.” She
stood. “Come on, we can do this in my workroom.” She led him down the basement
stairs and through a small door. Typical of a Philadelphia row house of its age
and neighborhood, the basement had been broken down into three sections. The Italians
that had once, and still, lived in the area had used those basements for the
making of homemade wine. One, the front, was decorated much as the upstairs had
been, with hardwood floors and bright colors. A door led to the middle section
and the laundry room. The second door had a shiny padlock on it.
    Annabelle muttered something over the lock and it fell open.
“Here we go.” She pushed open the door, and Zach whistled. A tile floor had
been set, the lighter tile mingled with darker glass tile in the shape of a
pentacle. The point faced north. Over that was a huge log turned altar, its
surface polished until it gleamed. Various spellcasting implements were