Homecoming Read Online Free PDF

up by bringing me here. Newsflash: priests aren’t perfect.”
    “I didn’t blindly follow their edicts. I spent a great deal of time in prayer over this myself before signing the betrothal. I knew I would have to wait years before I would have a wife if I accepted you.”
    “And you have a direct line to the Almighty? Wait a minute, what do you mean ‘you’d have to wait years’? How old were you? Are you?”
    A trace of humor lightened his face. “Twenty years ago I was twenty-seven.”
    Her mouth opened slightly. “You’re forty-seven? No way! No way are you more than thirty.”
    His mouth twisted. “Our race lives long. Three hundred is considered old age.”
    After a moment she shook her head like a dog shakes off water. “That would be a mess at the DMV.”
    Unsure what she was referencing, but satisfied that they’d miraculously broached a great many subjects without major fallout, he suggested, “I have to check with Keilor, who is your cousin, by the way. He’ll be bringing your friend here. Why don’t you freshen up and I’ll tell you the news when you’re finished?”
    As it happened, Keilor had already left. Refusing to let the upcoming interview shred his already abraded nerves, Jayems sat down at his desk and opened a ledger. The work would help calm his mind while he waited.
    Half an hour had ticked peacefully by when Rihlia’s door opened. He glanced at it absently, and then did a double take. He’d thought he’d known she was beautiful, but he truly hadn’t seen.
    Beads of pearl and topaz graced her long braids, weaving in and out of the dark strands like winking stars. White and gold silken robes outlined a body like that of a
    young goddess, inviting his eyes to linger. Even her eyes looked younger, darting to the door in anticipation of her friend’s arrival.
    “Beautiful,” he said softly, and her eyes shot to his in surprise. Surprise? How could she not know she was lovely?
    “Ah, thanks,” she said. Sending him an uneasy glance, she took a seat on the couch.
    Jayems tried to think of something to relax her. Before he could speak, Keilor strode into the room unannounced. “She is here.”
     

Chapter 6

    Relieved to have the subject changed, even by this, Jayems shut the heavy ledger he’d been perusing. He boots remained crossed on the desktop as he waited for more details.
    Rihlia wasn’t nearly as calm. She leapt up off the couch and demanded breathlessly, “Where?”
    Keilor lost the smile he’d had on seeing her. “There’s a problem,” he informed Jayems darkly. “She’s a Sylph.”
    Ah, no. Not this! Wasn’t his life difficult enough already? Jayems’ feet uncrossed, dropping with deliberation to the floor. He slammed his palms down on the desk and leaned forward. “A what?”
    Keilor shook his head slowly. “She could be nothing else. I’m certain of it.”
    Jayems swore and got to his feet, pacing with barely controlled frustration. Sylphs possessed a special pheromone, a mutation on the human norm. It had little effect on human men but caused the Haunt males, with their more sensitive noses, to become their mindless slaves.
    For thousands of years, her kind had been used by humans to lure and trap the men of the Haunt. The best of their warriors had been enticed by the unique, bewitching scent of the Sylph and killed by their masters until there were few of them left. That, combined with the unrelenting fear and hatred of humans, had driven his kind to seek their own world, free of the hunters.
    The best defense was to simply kill one whenever you had the chance, and now his betrothed’s best friend, the woman he’d sworn not to hurt, was one of them. His night just couldn’t get any more complicated.
    Rihlia looked between them in angry confusion. “What’s the matter? You told me she could—”
    Jayems whirled to face her, and his temper made his words harsh. “I gave permission for you to say goodbye, and I will still allow it, but the minute