Rise of the Seven Read Online Free PDF

was abruptly deadly and I could only imagine the
glare that accompanied it.
    “ I will see the pretender,”
he hissed.
    Well, that was telling. I elbowed past my
guard and leaned toward him, showing him my eyes.
    The green was significant and my approach was
pretty effective. He was speechless. I was confident we would break
him, so the small silver blade that materialized in an instant and
shot toward me caught me completely off guard. Instinct caused me
to turn, but as I rolled away from the dagger, it sliced the meat
of my shoulder.
    I spun, landing in a defensive crouch, just
in time to see the blow Chevelle landed on the young man. Danger
thwarted, both men turned to me.
    “ What the fuck was that?” I
yelled. They stared at me. “No. What the fuck was that?” Neither
appeared to fully comprehend my agitation. “Did he just pull silver out of the
air?”
    They reacted to my words then, eyes landing
first on my arm, which was now wet with blood, and then to the
floor behind them.
    A flat shard of metal lay on the stone.
Chevelle’s gaze returned to me, but Steed’s went back to the chair.
Rhys and Rider were suddenly there, struggling to take in whatever
had happened.
    Chevelle moved toward me and I became aware I
was near panting. I straightened and slowed my breathing, hands and
thighs still tingling with adrenaline. He examined my arm as I
watched Steed pick up the sword at the feet of the corpse. He
appeared thoroughly confused and his gaze returned to the blade on
the floor behind him.
    Feeling returned swiftly to my arm and I
jerked, but Chevelle had a tight grip. “It is a clean wound,” he
informed me. He bound a strip of fabric around it to stop the
bleeding and instructed Rhys to find Ruby.
    Chevelle turned. “Rider, this was an attempt
on Elfreda.” No one missed that he’d used my official name and each
in the room tensed at the severity, myself included. “We know
nothing, but can assume he did not travel alone.” Chevelle’s tone
deepened to something resembling an animal. “Find them.”
    Rider disappeared from the room without
another word and then Ruby was in the doorway. She had some choice
words for the scene, but hurriedly attended my injury.
    Steed was standing over the offending blade
and now that I was taken care of, Chevelle joined him. They didn’t
seem to want to touch it. Ruby was pestering me with questions and
poking at the gash in my arm, so I didn’t catch what they were
saying. I stood and walked over to join them. My head spun a little
and Ruby protested like a wild monkey, but she followed me, working
as we went.
    Steed glanced at me. “It doesn’t seem to be
of the same metal.”
    “ What does that mean?” I
asked.
    “ He didn’t pull the element
from anything on him. I checked his person myself. If it wasn’t the
sword...” He trailed off.
    “ How is that possible?” Ruby
asked.
    No one answered. There was no answer.
    Chevelle straightened to face me. “What did
it look like?”
    I was confused for a moment, but realized
neither he nor Steed would have been able to see it from from their
vantage point. I had a feeling neither was happy that I’d pushed
past them and stuck my nose in the attacker’s face. “It was quick.
Smooth but not liquid. His eyes were connected with mine and he
never lost focus. There was nothing, and then silver.” I sighed.
“I’m not even sure I realized it was a blade until I was
moving.”
    Ruby glanced at the chair. “Who bashed his
skull?”
    Steed and I gave Chevelle matching accusatory
glares. He didn’t budge.
    “ Well, we’ll never find
anything out now,” she complained. “What do you suppose he wanted?”
Her gaze flicked to my shoulder. “Aside from Frey.”
    Chevelle really didn’t like fairies. I
answered to save her. “He must have been put up to it.”
    “ He snuck through the
kitchens,” Steed put in. “There’s no way anyone with knowledge of
the castle would have sent him that route.”
    “ Did