Tempted by Darkness Read Online Free PDF

the
man sitting next to Cecil shook his head, “Heed my advice, young
woman, and don’t let Ruby hear you say that.”
    “Too late, Bart.” Kit was surprised to see
her mother and grandmother both standing behind her. When Granny
Good Witch turned to Kit she was frowning, “And you, my sweet
granddaughter, better watch yourself. I’ll show you slow reactions.
Why that’s just plain insulting. We’ll see who is faster, just you
wait. I’ll let you lead this, but we’re going to have a serious
discussion about you thinking I’m ready for the old witches’ home.
As if.”
    Well fuck a duck in a big yellow truck,
that’s all I need, a pissed off granny.
    Her grandmother moved into the center of the
circle and Kit watched as the air around her began to shimmer. The
sparkling light was the most brilliant combination of colors
imaginable, and seeing her grandfather’s image emerge filled Kit’s
heart with joy. He turned and winked at her before turning back to
the Council. She stepped closer hoping to hear what they were
discussing, only to discover they were speaking in Latin. Well,
that’s just plain rude. What the hell is that about? Her mother
leaned down and spoke softly against her ear, “Drama—well, they are
going to claim it is tradition, which is technically true. But if
you ask me, you grandfather is providing some insight that may help
or hinder you, and he doesn’t want to prejudice you.”
    “Want to run that by me again?” Kit had
refrained from rolling her eyes at her mother’s obtuse remark, but
just barely. Carla Harris was incredibly bright and an extremely
powerful witch, but both of those things also made her very
difficult to understand at times. Oh, she thought she was being
clear and was often completely befuddled when others didn’t
agree.
    He mother’s sigh let Kit know she wasn’t
impressed with the question, but she explained anyway. “He’s gotten
the scoop and he’d filling them in. Damn, my Latin is too rusty for
me to keep up and I doubt Mother will share everything she knows.
They’ll use this as a test of sorts for you. They believe you are
the one mentioned in the prophecy, but they want to be sure. But I
don’t want them to sacrifice Angie just to test their theory.”
    “What?” The question had come out far louder
than she’d intended and when all eyes turned to her, all she could
do was shrug and apologize.
    “Good Goddess, keep your voice down. You’re
already pushing your luck just being here. And you better hope this
wraps up quickly because your mate is faunching at the bit
outside the door. Anyway, what I was trying to explain is that no
one here sees this as the crises you do.” When Kit gasped, her
mother let out an exasperated sigh. “It isn’t that they don’t think
Angie is important, it’s just that we are fairly certain where
she’d being held, the real question is what is it going to take to
get her back without losing you in the process—something that is
completely off the table by the way.”
    Kit wanted to argue, but knew it would just
be an exercise in frustration. Her mother was rarely wrong about
anything involving the magical community. Carla Harris had always
been deeply committed to promoting the status of witches and more
often than not she was a mediator when things went to hell between
different groups. When Kit looked back to where her grandmother
stood, she could see the lines of frustration bracketing her mouth.
Ruby Stone wasn’t happy about something and whatever had set her
off was clearly a problem for her grandfather as well because even
though his image was fading quickly, Kit could see him cross his
arms over his chest as he shook his head.
    By the time Kit had listened quietly as the
Council handed down their decision and she’d walked out of their
chambers, she was practically vibrating she was so angry. How
could they be so callous about Angie’s safety? Doesn’t her life
mean anything to them? It seemed to Kit