Keepers & Killers (The Alchemy Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Philip.
    "Come, I'd love to show Jo the grounds a little," Vitor said. Cormac and I followed him out onto the back patio area and he shut the doors behind us. "I've heard whispers of what you want to discuss. I'd prefer to keep this private. My mother doesn't like the unrest she's been feeling in our people," Vitor explained as the three of us made our way around the pool. Lights illuminated flowerbeds in the darkness, and it took my mind back to another evening on a rooftop.
    The three of us walked a bit further down a paver pathway, with me in the center. Every time either of them moved, I made sure to realign myself back in the center. It wasn 't that I thought Cormac would try to have a go at Vitor, I just wasn't sure he wouldn't. Even though Vitor had been cleared of any wrongdoing, these two were far from cordial.
    "Any word on Hammond?" Vitor asked.
    "No," I replied. Hammond, my father, had been crushed in a cave after I had exploded a wormhole. I'd known him for less than an hour before I'd inadvertently buried him alive. He'd been working for the opposition, which made it complicated. His possible death still roiled my emotions.
    "Do you have…" Vitor started to speak.
    "Drop the subject," Cormac said in a peremptory tone from behind me, and cut off his words.
    Vitor eyed Cormac and I could see he was weighing his actions. I didn 't think he would have a chance in hell of taking on Cormac, no matter how much he'd like to. Cormac was larger but it wasn't a size thing; I didn't know what kind of fairy tricks Vitor might have, but that still didn't change my mind. It was more of a civilized, or uncivilized thing. Uncivilized might sound bad but not in a fight. Civilized was great for teas and dinner parties. If my life is on the line, I want someone who doesn't hold back. When you're staring down death, nothing's off limits.
    "Vitor, do you have any idea who, or what, Core is?" I asked before this situation devolved into a wasted trip to the desert.
    As soon as Vitor broke eye contact with Cormac, I knew it was back under control, at least for the moment.
    "No. His human records, as I'm sure you know, have him born to a normal family from the suburbs of Vegas. Obviously he's not. I've seen him from a distance, a handful of times, but I thought he was one of Tracker's wolves initially." He spoke mostly to me.
    "Couldn 't you tell he wasn't a wolf?" I hadn't known but couldn't the Fae sense these things?
    "No, I never got that close to him. Is he a large problem?" he asked, worry in his voice.
    "He might be," Cormac answered. I guess he didn't care if Vitor considered him part of the conversation or not. "Jo had a little run in with him not long ago."
    "What happened?"
    I knew Vitor had a soft spot for me, but I didn't realize how much until that second; the concern I heard in those words shocked me.
    "I 'm handling it." Cormac started to circle around me and I moved with him, so he had to either step over me or stop. "Do you know anything or not?"
    Yep, and there was Cormac pissing a circle all around me. For someone who was looking cozy with my best friend, he sure did like to mark me as his territory. I wondered if he did this with all the people that worked with him. It was starting to piss me off, pun intended.
    "Vitor, we think this guy is bad news. We know he was mixed up in what went down on the mountain," I interjected, trying to bring the focus back to me.
    "If he 's been going back and forth from my planet, how has he been getting over here without you knowing?" Vitor asked Cormac, throwing a jibe back.
    "I don 't know. Maybe he had some help." Cormac left little doubt about who he thought might have helped him. I knew he didn't believe it; he was just antagonizing Vitor.
    "Are you accusing me of something?" Vitor took a step closer and I thought I 'd get smushed between the two of them.
    "Can the two of you play nice for a couple of minutes?" I said , at about my wits' end. "I'm the only one that got close to