Night's Touch Read Online Free PDF

a pair of eyes—a pair of glowing red eyes—staring back at her? She might have thought it was a cat, but she'd never seen a cat with eyes that color!
    Spooked, she turned on her heel and sprinted into her bedroom. She locked the door behind her and closed the curtains over the windows, then she stood there, breathing hard, one hand pressed to her heart.
    That was how her father found her when he knocked on her door a moment later.
    "Cara, may I come in?"
    "Yes!"
    Stepping into the room, he took one look at her face and asked, "What's wrong?"
    "Nothing." She gestured toward the balcony. "I… I thought I saw… I don't know what it was."
    He moved toward the French doors, opened them, and stepped outside. "Think, Cara. What did you see?"
    "I'm not sure." She went to stand beside her father, unafraid now that he was there with her. "It looked… it looked like eyes. Red, glowing eyes."
    He looked at her sharply. "Red eyes? Are you sure?"
    "Yes, why? Does that mean something to you?"
    He took a breath. "No, of course not." Putting his arm around her shoulders, he led her back into the bedroom, then closed and locked the doors. "Probably just a cat."
    "With red eyes?"
    "A trick of the moonlight," he said with a reassuring smile. "Di Giorgio tells me you went to The Nocturne again."
    Nodding, she sat on the edge of her bed.
    "Two men spoke to you tonight."
    She tried to subdue her annoyance at having her every move watched and reported, but it came out in an angry breath. She was twenty-two years old! Was she never to have any privacy?
    "Yes, Dad," she said irritably, "I saw two men. I danced with two men. They bought me drinks. I came home alone. Is there anything else you want to know?"
    "I don't care for that tone, young lady."
    "I'm sorry." She was instantly contrite, and a little confused by her growing resentment.
    He sat down beside her. "I know having Di Giorgio follow you is wearisome. I know you don't fully understand or appreciate the necessity of having him there, but it's for my peace of mind and for…"
    "My own good," she finished, having heard it all a hundred times before.
    "Car a…"
    "Dad, I'm twenty-two years old! No one's ever even looked at me sideways. What's the big deal? What are you really afraid of? I think I have a right to know."
    "Perhaps it's time," he allowed. "I'll discuss it with your mother."
    "You promise?"
    "If you think it's necessary, then you have my word."
    She smiled at him. "Thanks, Dad."
    With a nod, Roshan kissed his daughter on the forehead, then left the room, closing the door behind him.
    Brenna looked up when he entered the living room. "Is everything all right?"
    "She's starting to chafe at having Di Giorgio trailing after her, and she's starting to ask questions." He shook his head, surprised that it had taken her this long.
    "Maybe we're worrying for nothing. It's been over twenty years. Surely if the coven meant to take some kind of revenge, they would have done so by now."
    "Maybe." Roshan sat beside his wife, his expression grim. "We should have moved years ago."
    "I know, but I love this house."
    He was as guilty as she. It was a big old place located on a quiet street in a respectable part of the city. Once, it had been a dark and lonely place, but Brenna had changed all that. She had brought light and color into his home just as she had brought it into his life.
    He blew out a sigh that came from the very depths of his being. "We can't hide the truth from her forever."
    "I'm afraid," Brenna said, clutching his hand. "This isn't like telling her she was adopted. That's normal. But what I am… what we are… what if she refuses to accept us? What if we disgust her? I can't bear the thought of losing her."
    "I know." It was a fear he had lived with since the night Cara had wrapped her tiny, dimpled finger around his thumb and captured his heart and soul. He had rehearsed' ways to tell her the truth over and over again in his mind, but how did you tell your only child that