The Council (Darkness #5) Read Online Free PDF Page B

this place I’d follow his instructions to the letter. If I didn’t know better, I’d say my life depended on it.
    Jonas led me out of the room, wanting to be the first in the hallway. Charles followed directly behind, his hand on my back.
    “You have your magic all over this bitch?” Jonas asked in a low tone as we started down the hall. “I don’t need anyone sneaking up on me.”
    “I’ve got it.” And I did. I wasn’t taking any chances.
    After a few feet I asked, “Why was Toa so paranoid, do you think?”
    “Because you just showed, without a doubt, your value,” Jonas growled, eyes always on the move. “He tried to lessen your worth, saying you didn’t follow orders, and wouldn’t conform, but the big power players won’t care about that. They’ll think they can bring you to heel.”
    “They’ll try , anyway,” Charles added, his bearing tense, his thick cords of muscle flexed from head to foot. “Trying without success would probably be worse than trying with success. The Boss needs to find a backer soon. Sasha just painted a damn target on her back.”
    “Does everyone find a backer here?” I asked, feeling my magic mingle with another. I slowed as we turned into an empty corridor.
    “No. Not many do,” Jonas answered, slowing with me. He felt it too. Fire danced in his eyes, a sure sign he was ready to rip someone’s face off. “Which usually doesn’t matter because most leaders aren’t powerful enough to pose a threat. The Boss is, though.”
    “So, then, won’t finding a backer be easy?” I whispered, feeling Charles’ hand on my shoulder. My warning tingle started crawling up my back. I wanted to turn around and start sprinting. Where would I go, though? This was a big hotel surrounded by nothingness. I had nowhere to hide.
    “He either finds a backer, or he finds the afterlife. The next two weeks will decide.”
    “Isn’t it weird that when Toa is all jumpy, Dominicous is calm and jokey, but when Dominicous gets riled up, Toa gets crazy calm,” I wondered aloud. I needed to take my mind off of that magic approaching. Panic and fear were not where my head needed to be right now. It would work against me.
    “It’s a great partnership,” Jonas reflected, his muscles flexing. “Where are these—”
    Jonas cut off as three men stepped into the corridor a hundred feet in front of us. One guy was slightly in front, his face tilted down in menace. The two behind walked with their chests puffed up, the first guy’s backup.
    “Here we go, bro,” Charles growled, turning sideways so a quick turn of his head could have him seeing either end of the hallway.
    “Oh God. This is a challenge, isn’t it?” My breath was coming in fast pants. My chest felt tight.
    The men stalked toward us. Stefan’s height or more, huge and robust, they were thugs of massive proportions. The front man, eyes for me alone, ground to a halt ten feet in front of me. His lips quirked in a sardonic smile. “We don’t like humans thinking above their station.”
    “ Thinking above our station?” I said back automatically. “Well, I don’t have to worry about you doing that, huh?”
    “If more than one of you challenges, we can step in to defend her,” Jonas drawled. He cracked his neck.
    “I live here, haus. I know the rules of engagement,” the man retorted.
    Thankfully, my guys didn’t mention Jonas’ statement was for me, not them.
    “So what’s it going to be?” Jonas leaned in, his eyes flaring with crazy. “Am I invited to the party?”
    The lead thug’s eyes flicked toward Jonas, an answer on his tongue. When his eyes hit my bodyguard, though, those words must’ve dried up, because he shut his mouth with a click. The two guys to the back shifted with darting eyes, a normal person’s version of begging to shuffle away quickly.
    “I don’t got a gripe with you, man.” The leader nodded toward me. “I got a gripe with a bitch human prancing around with my kind at her back, like