My Forbidden Desire Read Online Free PDF Page B

won’t hurt you. Will you, Xia?”
    He curled a lip at Harsh. No. But he wanted to. Be fun to spill a little witch blood. Or a lot.
    “Why don’t you just take the amulet, then?” Alexandrine said, all paniclike. Yeah, she ought to be afraid of him. “If it’s that important, just take it.”
    Xia rolled his eyes. “Sure,” he said. “Go ahead. I want to see this.”
    She whipped her head around to him. “I’m not talking to you.”
    “You can’t do it,” Xia said. He made sure she saw him looking at her rack. “Not in a million years, baby.”
    She put her hand to the cord around her neck. All she did was grip it, though. Didn’t take it off. He doubted she could. Not with the way that thing was leaking magic into her. “An old Turkish woman gave it to me. I had to hike three hours to get to her village. She said my father made it.” She touched her cheek. “She said I looked like him.”
    “Except for the hair,” Xia said, “not that much.”
    She turned on him. “Would you please butt out?”
    “Xia,” Harsh said. He sighed. “That’s enough. Really.”
    “Relax,” Xia said. “I’m not going to do anything to her. I just want to see if she can take off the talisman.”
    “Why wouldn’t I?”
    “You’re a witch, lady. And the magekind don’t give up objects with that kind of power.” He held out a hand and lifted his eyebrows. “Go on, give it to me, baby.”
    “Fine.”
    He and Harsh watched her fingers tighten on the cord. “In my lifetime, maybe?” he said.
    She stared at her brother, and while she did, her pupils dilated until there was practically no iris left. She wasn’t pulling, per se, because that implied some level of control, and by now he knew she didn’t have any control of her magic. No wonder Rasmus threw her away. Without control, she was worse than useless.
    “I told you,” said Xia.
    “Of course I can.” But she was whispering. Her fingers tightened on the cord.
    “Oh, yeah?” Xia said. “Then do it already, why don’t you?”
    “In a minute.” She licked her lips, but she didn’t move.
    “Alexandrine?” Harsh exchanged a glance with Xia, who just shrugged. Point made. She couldn’t do it.
    “I will. I’m going to.” Her hand shook.
    “How long have you been wearing it?” Xia asked.
    She looked relieved by the question. Sure she did. Because the question deflected the conversation from the fact that she couldn’t take off the talisman. “A few weeks.”
    “Liar.”
    She put her hands over her mouth and took a deep breath. Her eyes got all big and scared. The witch should have been scared the minute she touched the thing. She dropped her hands to her sides and addressed her answer to Harsh. “Since I got back from Turkey. Maybe nine months. A little less. What difference does it make?”
    “What if you just showed us?” Harsh said. “Can you do that?”
    The room got quiet. Perspiration dampened the hair at her forehead and temples. “What’s wrong with me?” she asked.
    Harsh shook his head at him, and Xia ended up keeping his opinion about that to himself. “Try, Alexandrine,” Harsh said.
    She lifted the hem of her blouse. The thong was long enough that the talisman hung nearly to her navel. Xia was impressed she could do that much. Harsh made a come-here gesture in his direction. “Take a look, would you, Xia?”
    Xia came around to Alexandrine and knelt at her feet, because he was too tall to get a look any other way. He leaned in close enough that his breath made her skin twitch. Without needing to look hard, he knew both sides of the circle were carved; the front had a panther with a snarling mouth and extended claws. The reverse was the panther’s body from the back, including an about-to-twitch tail, with the sole difference that this side also had a carved face.
    “Well?” Harsh said.
    “I don’t know,” he said, because he didn’t see why he should make this easy for her. He knew what he was looking at. He squinted.