The Fallen One (Sons of the Dark Mother, Book One) Read Online Free PDF

to make sure they had a contingency plan for every possible
situation. Save one.
    They hadn’t completely figured out
the mystery surrounding the disappearance of their parents—that was
the one x-factor to their plan. Well, and another existed
too.
    Her name was Jessica Kincaid—and
she was one contingency for which they could not plan.
    She was also the one part of the
plan he had no intention of going without—ever again.
    He hadn’t had a choice when he was
fourteen years’ old, and suddenly responsible for getting his
sisters to safety—and had therefore been forced to walk away from
Jes.
    Ophelia had convinced him that he
would only put her in more danger. She had said that only her
grandparents could protect her now. Ophelia was the sage one,
always practical—and kind, even when she was a very young child.
But it was the most difficult thing he had ever done—to walk away
from her then.
    He would never again walk away from
her—and now, she was the second x-factor.
    Actually, she was more than just an
x-factor. She was the hinge to the swinging of the door—a door that
could swing wide open—or slam shut. Now, as the siblings looked at
each other, they could only see the one question in each other’s
eyes. Would that x-factor make their plan work—or destroy
it?
    The biggest problem was—Jes hated
him. Not that he blamed her. But she was apt to do anything in her
hate—and she was as integral a part of their plan as any other
part. No contingency was available for the possibility that
she couldn’t be
brought around. They did not have any type of plan for
that.
    She was important to all of
them—all three of his sisters—and especially himself. She was part
of their future—a part of what was about to happen. She was much
too important to their plan for him to fail to bring her around. He
couldn’t even consider it—he wouldn’t make a plan for
that.
    And neither would his
sisters.
    It was time—to bring forth the prophecy .
     
     
     

C hapter Three
    Second Chances
    Jes was sitting at the bar, sipping on a beer, and watching everyone who came
in the door of Second Chances. The bartender was glaring daggers at
her, but she ignored him. Not so easy to ignore—was her
partner.
    She didn’t want to deal with him.
She wanted to deal with the young man who had haunted her dreams
every night. She’d played with him when she’d been just a little
girl—and he a little boy. She’d been drawn to him, like a moth to
the flame.
    She didn’t understand how the boy
she had loved so much—had gone so wrong.
    No. She didn’t want to deal with
the bartender—or her partner. What she wanted was to finally track
down Justice—and get some answers.
    Her partner was also giving her
dark looks, but not with the intensity of the barkeep. His glances
were born from a different source, and she knew it. He was
concerned; he didn’t understand her obsession with this
case.
    A case that the rest of the
department considered cold—as in dead, as in the leads had all
dried up and blown away a long time ago.
    She straddled the stool, set down
her beer, and gave her full attention to her partner. “Okay, out
with it,” she said, though she was in no mood to hear
it.
    The only thing that was on her mind
tonight was Justice; and the feelings he invoked in her were
stronger than ever.
    “ What are we really doing here?”
He nodded toward the bartender. “He has had it out for you since we
walked in here.”
    Jes looked at the bartender,
swallowed, and looked away. She was surprised he hadn’t come over
and told her to leave.
    She looked at her partner. He
wanted answers—answers she wasn’t willing to give. And the time for
dodging questions had long since passed. He had reached his limit
with her obsession.
    Her partner’s name was Jared. He
was more than six feet tall, and packed with a lot of hard muscle.
He had dark hair and midnight-blue eyes. Women fell all over
themselves to get his attention