Shattered Circle Read Online Free PDF Page B

essentially, mine. Therefore, they wouldn’t dare raise a hand to me.
    Right?
    I closed my eyes and affirmed to myself that the mantle of the Lustrata rested upon my shoulders. With a turn of the knob, I stepped out.
    The door to my room was so heavy, it could have served as the entry to a bank vault in a former life, so, with a push on its significant weight, I shut it and descended the steps. My gaze trailed back. The Offerling on duty was playing Angry Birds on his phone and he glanced at me, expressionless, then returned to his game. My focus skipped past him to the door directly beneath mine . . . the entry to Menessos’s chambers. The vampire was beyond that door, not so far away.
    Winding my way through the backstage maze, I found the former theater house was lit only by the sconces on the outer walls. It was enough illumination for me to traverse the room without bumping into tables. The place was, thankfully, empty of people. As I walked, the darkness and silence allowed my mind to revisit my last exit from the haven, fleeing upon my broom.
    Near the entrance to the theater I paused to look back, imagining what it must have looked like, me flying out of here, a giant harpy in swift pursuit.
    “Going somewhere?” Her heavy Russian accent made the word sound like suhm-vair .
    I spun around.
    In the doorway stood a tall woman with short, spiky black hair. Muscular shoulders rose and fell with a heavy breath, her bulging arms crossed. Her familiar oval face was frowning.
    Ivanka.
    She’d served as my sentinel until she’d tried to shoot Creepy in the head. He’d broken her forearm like it was a bendy straw.
    It didn’t surprise me that her cast was covered in a green wrap that had been marked up to resemble camouflage, or that she wore a black tank top and military fatigues. Her combat boots were untied, with the strings tucked down inside. I was glad her handgun was still holstered on her left hip and not in her hand.
    “Yes. I have a meeting in”—I checked my watch—“about twenty minutes.”
    “You must stay.”
    “Why?”
    “It is order of Haven Master. Erus Veneficus is not to leave premises.”
    “Menessos said I couldn’t leave?”
    “No.” Her eyes narrowed angrily. “Because of you, Menessos is our master no more.”
    Right. Suspicious, I asked, “And who is?”
    “Goliath.”
    A sudden fear gripped me. If he had made claim to the people of the haven, then maybe they weren’t “essentially” mine at all. I thought it through. Goliath belonged to Menessos, so unless they had done some kind of separation, he was mine as well. By default, things should still be kind of the same as I had expected.
    I moved to step around her.
    She blocked me.
    “I have to go, Ivanka. I’ll come straight back afterward.”
    “Return to your quarters.”
    Setting my stance and unlocking my knees, I said,“Make me, if you dare.” I lifted one hand and wiggled my fingers. “But be warned: I set the Domn Lup of the wærewolves on his ass with my hands. I defeated Liyliy with my hands. You”—I looked her up and down—“don’t stand a chance. Not even with a gun.”
    Her mouth opened, then shut.
    “Move aside.”
    She retreated one step, out of reach, but angled into my path. “I wish to not lose rank.”
    “You won’t.” I brushed past her. She wisely didn’t try to stop me. As I climbed the steps and headed for the entrance, however, she was right behind me.
    “I go with you, to ensure your return.”
    “Not necessary.”
    “I go anyway.”
    I stopped and spun. “No. This is private.”
    “Menessos would not want you outside of haven unprotected.”
    I wiggled my fingers at her again. “I’ll be okay.”
    Being assertive like this was a double checkmark in the plus column. One, because it made me feel good about myself. Two, because affirming my power to someone else reinforced it to me.
    As I rounded the turn near the old ticket booth across the lobby from the entrance, an older man