The Shadow Zone 2: Winning Madeline Read Online Free PDF

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    Madeline’s breathing was steady and slow, easing his fears that he could have accidentally harmed her in his efforts to get her out of danger. Exhaling deeply, he turned to face Rick. His curiosity was a living thing in the air between them.
    “There’s a dead man down in the servant’s quarters,” Rick began slowly. “And you’ve brought another souvenir from the zone as well, I see.”
    Rick meant Madeline, but he didn’t even look in her direction. Maddox knew Rick was busy scanning his thoughts. Relaxing, Maddox allowed it.
    “The dead man was the cult recruiter. You killed him?”
    Maddox nodded.
    “Why?”
    “Isn’t it obvious? The Elders expect us to keep the wolves from learning more than they already do about the cult. Without interfering. It’s ridiculous. Shadowing that vile brute day after day to keep him from acquiring that recruiter would be a waste of resources and would drive me mad. If the man’s dead, they can’t acquire him or force him to reveal the cult’s secrets. Problem solved.”
    Rick chuckled at that, a dry humorless sound.
    “I won’t argue with that logic,” Rick told him. “But I can’t wait to hear what they’ll decide.”
    Maddox wasn’t looking forward to that either.
    “So what about her?” Rick nodded in Madeline’s direction. “Does she know why she was there? Who that man was?”
    Maddox shook his head. “Nothing. She was there, she thought, to protect the child of a neighbor. She’s very fond of the little girl.”
    Rick’s gaze locked with his, dark eyes widening. Maddox waited for his reaction to what he’d obviously picked out of his mind.
    “And you’re very fond of her.” Rick stated the obvious. “This woman is the reason you conducted yourself as you did, isn’t she? He threatened her.”
    Maddox tried to read Rick’s expression. It was probably just as well he didn’t share Rick’s gift for mind reading. He was probably deciding he’d lost his mind.
    “No, I wasn’t thinking that at all.” A corner of Rick’s mouth curved up into a half smirk. “Who am I to judge you? I fell in love with a werewolf, didn’t I? Besides, you can change her into one of us, make it work.”
    Turning back to gaze at the woman sleeping in the bed, the meaning of Rick’s words ran through his brain. Sure, he’d considered that possibility. But he couldn’t even think about it right now. He’d just saved her life. He had no idea what he’d do with her now. He had even less of an idea of what she’d think of him or the situation she was facing.
    What if she detested him? What if she never wanted anything to do with him?
    “You’ve got a full plate,” Rick pointed out. “I’ll take care of one problem for you. I’ll have my servants take care of the recruiter’s body. It can never be found.”
    Maddox appreciated that.
    “No one saw you? The Lycans?”
    Maddox shook his head.
    “They didn’t see a thing.”
    “What about this child you mentioned? The child of her neighbor.”
    “It was a ruse,” Maddox explained. “They only told her that to get her to accompany them to town. To use her as bait.”
    Rick’s expression was thoughtful.
    “So it’s just the child and one parent?”
    Why was Rick so curious?
    “Because the Lycans will want to know what happened to the recruiter they wanted so badly. This woman -- Madeline, is it? -- disappeared at the same time. They know more about her than him. If this child means something to her, they could use her and the parent to try and draw Madeline out.”
    “I’d never let her off the property,” Maddox assured him.
    Rick cocked a sable brow at him. “What does this neighbor do?”
    Maddox shrugged. “Best I can tell, he tries to find work to feed the child. Madeline fed her half the time.”
    “Because he was unsuccessful or lazy?”
    Maddox hadn’t paid very close attention to the man and his child in all honesty. All he had was his impression of the man.
    “He