Moonlight(Pact Arcanum 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

edges.”
    She snorted in derision. “Then it was for the best that we broke it off.”
    “I wouldn’t say that,” Rory said. “In a lot of ways, you complemented each other’s strengths. You might have had your problems, but on the whole, you were good together. It would be a shame to let it all go to waste over one argument, no matter how destructive.”
    She looked at him with casual arrogance. “Do you know why we were arguing?”
    “No,” answered Rory with undisguised curiosity. “Nick didn’t give us the details.”
    “I gave him a protective charm that I stole from Antonio on the night I forced him to betray you.”
    Rory’s brows shot up in disbelief.
    Takeshi shook his head slowly. “That was kind of obnoxious, Layla. You’re more astute than that. How did you think he would react?”
    She flashed her fangs at him. “We were at war, and Antonio was a powerful enemy. I was within my rights to take a trophy of my victory. The fact that I found a use for it is beside the point.”
    Rory refocused on the conversation. “It was a different time, I suppose. Toby opened his eyes after the Armistice, so he doesn’t know how brutal things were back then. Still, giving him a token you took off a dead Sentinel doesn’t exactly strike me as a smart move, Layla. You’re usually more subtle.”
    She looked out the darkened window, her enhanced sight picking out the street scene in the infrared. “I was probably foolish to give him such an emotionally charged gift without explanation. At the time, I just wanted to make sure of his safety.” She looked back and saw both of them staring at her face with identical expressions of shock. Reaching up to touch her cheek, she felt the single tear that they had seen and quickly brushed it away. “I have not met anyone so infuriating in millennia.”
    Takeshi, ever prepared, reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief. He offered it to her wordlessly.
    She took it from his hand and wiped at her face. “Forgive me. Of late, my mood has been overly volatile when I think of him. It is most distressing. I could not control my rage when we quarreled. I should not have let his offense provoke me.”
    “Perhaps you’re just feeling vulnerable,” Take said, trying to be diplomatic. “How long has it been since you tried to form an equal partnership with someone else?”
    She snorted. “It has been centuries, if ever.”
    “I don’t think that’s the reason, Take,” Rory said quietly.
    They both looked at him in surprise.
    “Layla, I can read your emotions clearly, and I can tell you two things right off the bat. First, you’re in a lot more emotional turmoil than you’re even aware of, and second, if you’re letting your shields slip this much, then you’re more distracted than I’ve ever seen.” He leaned forward intently. “Have you considered the possibility that your mind is being tampered with?”
    Layla looked at him thoughtfully, her emotions brought ruthlessly under control as she focused her mind on the memories of the last several weeks with razor-sharp clarity. Could it be? It doesn’t seem plausible on the surface, but I would never have been taken in by a more overt confrontation. Her anger threatened to boil over as she noticed an extended pattern of erratic behavior, but she brutally restrained her bloodlust. Patience. If this is the work of an enemy, it shows uncommon subtlety. This prey will be difficult to chase down. “It would certainly be a more palatable explanation than that I am simply overwrought over a mortal.”
    Takeshi looked back and forth between them. “If you really suspect something sinister, then we can always get Jeremy to examine you. He’s supposed to be arriving back at the Citadel this evening.”
    Layla nodded, already making battle plans. She allowed herself a single moment of personal reflection as she mentally prepared herself for the hunt. Perhaps there was something to your words after all, Tobias,