Katie's Hellion (Rhyn Trilogy, Book One) Read Online Free PDF

empty.
A human-like creature sat in the corner making snorting sounds he
assumed was weeping. He looked closely at the creature. It was from
the healer's guild, one of the oldest guild's in the universe. By
the tattooed bands wrapped around his arms --each one depicting a
millennium --the creature was nearly as old as Andre, the eldest of
Rhyn's brothers.
    "Shapeshifter!" someone called from down the
hall.
    He watched the mage in brown scuttle away.
"Yeah," Rhyn grunted.
    "I'm bored. Entertain me," the male voice
down the corridor said. "Can you shut that healer up by eating
him?"
    "Yeah," he replied.
    The sobbing, slender creature tensed and
covered his head, as if expecting an attack from above. Amused,
Rhyn stopped pacing and sat, staring the small creature down. The
healer quieted.
    "Good enough," the creature down the hall,
Jared, said with a loud sigh. "What shape are you now, beast?"
    "The usual."
    "Not much for talking, are you?"
    The rest of the freaks collected by Sasha,
Rhyn’s half-brother who aligned himself with the Dark One, were
quiet on the cell block. They normally were, and if they weren't,
their screaming was muted by the magic of their cells. Rhyn
stretched out on the ground of his cell to stare at the
ceiling.
    "I heard Sasha's getting promoted by You Know
Who," Jared continued. "Wonder if he'll be too important for his
personal zoo."
    "He'll make time for you, Jared," Rhyn
assured him.
    "I suppose. Not sure why he has a half-breed
like you hanging around when he's got a full-blooded demon like me
here."
    Rhyn knew why well enough. In Sasha's zoo, he
was at the bottom of the food chain of the otherworldly collection
of creatures. He intended to keep his relationship to their
zookeeper a secret. Sasha had an affinity for collecting the worst
of the worst --creatures whose intentions toward humans and
immortals alike were as far from the Immortal Code as could be.
    Despite Rhyn’s fury and occasional diversion
from the Immortal Codes, he still believed in them, a weakness Sasha was trying to beat out of him since their
eldest brother --the peacemaker and enforcer of the Council That
Was Seven --sentenced them both to Hell.
    "Fuck you, Sasha," he whispered into the
darkness, not caring if Sasha heard him or not.
    Fuck you, Kris, for making me do what I did,
and fuck you, Andre, for pulling the trigger and sending me here
with Sasha.
    When he was out of Hell, he'd already planned
on kicking the ass of their eldest brother, Andre, and killing
Kris. The Council That Was Seven would survive without the three of
them: Sasha, who'd sold out long ago; Kris, who needed to die; and
him, whom Andre'd kill as soon as he killed Kris.
    As much as they hate me for aligning with
the Dark One, they hate you more for our father's death, Sasha
had told him smugly more than once.
    It was true, and only Andre supported his
petition to be recognized as one of the seven sons charged by their
father with protecting humanity against the Dark One. By the time
he came of age, his other six brothers had not only come of age but
also had each adopted a continent of responsibility. His late birth
in the immortal world landed him Antarctica, where he could do
little harm with his wild powers.
    As much as he hated Hell, he hated Antarctica
more.
    Restless, he rose and paced again, wondering
why Sasha needed an ancient healer in his zoo, a place where
creatures came to suffer.
    He sensed what Gabriel wouldn't say: things
were about to change for him, and he suspected that meant he'd soon
be free. Whoever it was he was to protect, even his promise to
Gabriel wouldn't stand in his way of revenge.
    I'm coming for you, Kris.
     
    * * *
    She awoke and readied herself for the world,
convinced everything had been a nightmare caused by exhaustion. Her
conviction wilted as she stepped from her room into the living room
to find the black-clad death dealer seated in an armchair, facing
the door as if on guard, with a lethal black sword across his