Prince of Power Read Online Free PDF Page A

smile. “I’m glad to be back, Thad.”
    Lying to him like this made her ill.
    ***
    Alexia raced through the forested grounds surrounding the estate, feet pounding the ground beneath her. She sped as fast as her legs could manage, her chest burning and her breath gasping in shallow pants that echoed in her own ears like a chugging locomotive. Her nose and lungs burned with the effort of drawing breath, and her heart burned like it might explode out of her.
    Dawn broke overhead in a wash of pinks and grays. She was human, so the sun’s rays wouldn’t hurt her, but the royal estate was eerily dead for miles during the day. Creepy and lonely, especially outdoors. As the only person living in a community full of vampires, she was all stocked up on creepy and lonely as it was. These vamps might not be the kind of pasty undead creatures you saw in horror movies, but she was constantly reminded of her outsider status.
    The back of the mansion loomed up ahead, and the double doors of the rear entrance beckoned to her. Almost. Almost. Almost…
    Alexia’s hand smacked the keypad and punched in the now-familiar security code automatically. By the time the little indicator light had changed from red to green, her other arm had reached to wrench open the door. She slipped in and pulled it shut behind her as quietly as she could. The heavy drapes that covered the windowed doors were down for the day to keep the sun out, and it was a struggle not to feel suffocated when they hit her in the face.
    â€œOh, God,” she whispered to herself.
    Hands braced on her knees, she needed all of her willpower not to collapse right there in the back hall. It was a good thing the household was all in bed asleep by now.
    Alexia straightened and tugged the hem of her shirt up to wipe the sweat from her face. Her lungs burned, but she could breathe.
    â€œShouldn’t be out by yourself past dawn, Alexia.”
    â€œHoly shit, Lee.”
    She jerked her top down to find the source of the voice, even though she recognized it right away. The few times she had heard him speak were enough to burn it into her memory. Her haste caused her to lose her footing, and she fell with an extremely unladylike thud against the pristine white wall.
    â€œJesus Christ. You scared the crap out of me.”
    Thad’s bodyguard was very much as she remembered him: tall, broad, and extremely unnerving. He stood against the opposite wall with his arms crossed over his chest. His normally tan skin was sort of ashy, and he looked quite tired but otherwise as gorgeous as before. Damn him. The hall chandelier cast a dim yellow glow, and a sheen of water dotted the top of his marine-style haircut like he had showered recently. Instead of what she thought of as his badass street-fighting clothes, jeans stretched across his muscular thighs and a soft, gray waffle henley shirt almost gave him the appearance of casual.
    Almost.
    He used his chin to gesture toward the door. “What were you doing out there?”
    Like it was any business of his. “Jogging. Where the hell have you even been?”
    His brow creased and his blue-green eyes narrowed at her. “That wasn’t jogging. Jogging is what folks do at the park with their dogs and their headphones and their velour tracksuits and shit. The way you barreled into the back hall was a scene in a horror movie where the big-chested airhead runs to escape the masked man with the chainsaw.”
    Alexia sucked down some more oxygen and pushed away from the wall, stepping toward him with all the bravado she could muster despite over a foot in height difference between them. Her pulse gave an extra hard kick when she got close to him.
    â€œSeriously, Lee. You have been gone for like a week. You left without any word to anyone, and Thad has been going out of his mind. Everybody has. Does he know you’re back yet?”
    His head dipped. “Not that it’s any business of yours, but