The Prophecy (Daughters of the People Series Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

older man out. She didn’t flirt and charm as Dani
might. Instead, she met Olaf on an intellectual level. That intellect was damn
appealing, especially when coupled with serene features and a compact, athletic
body. Apparently, he was drawn to women who wore their power well. Who knew?
    Since his
divorce two years before, he’d hidden himself away from the dating world. His
and his wife’s parting had been amicable, or amicable enough. He and Linda had
both wanted to protect their daughter, Amelia, the center of their world, or so
he’d thought. When Linda had told him she wanted a divorce, he’d been stunned.
In her view, they were two moons on different orbital trajectories
independently circling a planet named Amelia.
    He’d thought
they were a family and she’d thought they were a planetary system. That’s what
he got for marrying an astrophysicist.
    He wasn’t ready
to go through that again. Hell, he wasn’t even ready to date yet. Thankfully,
none of his friends were stupid enough to try setting him up on a blind date, or
any date for that matter. Between work and Amelia, he’d managed to fill his
free time and ignore the loneliness that had moved into his apartment with him.
    He frowned down
at his glass. One beer and he was as morose as a man deep in his cups. If
that’s all it took to push him into that kind of contemplation, he really
needed to get out more.
    “May I join
you?”
    James glanced
up. Maya stood beside him, hands in the pockets of loose cargo pants, one
eyebrow arched.
    “Sure,” he said.
    She perched on a
stool beside him and waved away the bartender, then swiveled, facing the room.
The noise of the crowd ebbed and flowed around them. Laughter rang out, drawing
his eye to the Lindbergs’ table. Dani rose and pulled Helene up from her chair,
tilting her head toward the stage, speaking softly to the older woman. Finally,
Helene smiled shyly and nodded, and the two women threaded their way across the
bar to a karaoke machine. They chose a song and a moment later, the opening
measures of an old doo-wop rang through the bar. The two hopped up on the small
stage, Dani leading the way, and began to sing, hamming it up for the crowd
egging them on.
    “She’s something
else.” James pointed toward the stage. “Your assistant.”
    Maya’s lips
twitched into a small smile. “Yes, she is.”
    “You’ve known
her a while?”
    “Since she was a
little girl.”
    “So, the two of
you grew up together.”
    Her smile
widened. “Not exactly.”
    He sipped his
beer, eyeing that smile. “What exactly, then?”
    “She was my
student for a while, a long time ago.”
    He huffed out a
laugh. “You can’t be more than a year or two older than her, not nearly old
enough to be her teacher.”
    “You’re very
kind.” She dipped her head toward him, her eyes sparkling. They were almond
shaped and an odd golden brown in the low light of the bar. “But I’m a good
deal older than I appear.”
    “You know, men
don’t really care about a woman’s age.”
    “I know,” she
said, grinning. “That’s why we torment you with it.”
    He laughed and
his earlier mood slipped away. “So, you were her teacher, then. And Indigo? Did
you teach her, too?”
    Maya nodded. “She
was an excellent student, as was Dani.”
    “Is that why
they call you… What was the word they used?”
    “Maetyrm.”
    He tried the
word out, letting the syllables roll across his tongue as he analyzed them. “A
Latin derivative?”
    Maya turned her
gaze to Dani and Helene’s extravagant bows. “Not quite.”
    He couldn’t tell
if she was ignoring him or simply didn’t want to answer the question. “What
does it mean?”
    She hesitated,
smiled as Dani raised her hands in a cheer while she bounced back to the
Lindbergs’ table. “It’s a term of respect, usually meaning mother or even
revered mother. At the school, it’s reserved for teachers. And yes, I’m certain
it isn’t a Latin derivative.”
    His brow
furrowed