The Shadow's Son Read Online Free PDF Page A

pining over Zac. Walking towards him, he raised an eyebrow.
    "I thought I would have seen you before now," he said, hand clutched around a beer.
    "I haven't come to see you," she sneered, not sitting down.
    Finally, she looked up and saw Zac sitting at the bar with his back to them. Even if she couldn't feel his emotions, she would know exactly what they were. His head hung low over his glass and his shoulders were hunched. Zac was a hard man and didn't often show anything other than annoyance or anger. Right now it was the second of the two and his posture meant he was trying to keep it to himself. Aya knew that he'd registered her presence, but he acted as if she didn't exist. And he would know that she understood exactly what he was doing. He didn't know how to say whatever it was he was angry with her for, so this was how he reacted.
    "He's angry with you, Arrow," Tristan stated the obvious, taking a draught of his beer.
    Aya knew she'd done something wrong, something for the life of her she didn't understand. She could think of a few things and it could be any one of them, but her gut was churning over one particular misdemeanor.
    "You never were good at relatin' to people," the knight continued. "If you intend to keep him, you should do somethin' about it."
    She walked over to the bar and lay her hand lightly on Zac's shoulder, never one to back away. For a moment it looked as if he wasn't going to move. But, he got up from the stool without a word, her hand falling away. He led her to a booth at the back of the bar, obviously conscious that Tristan was watching them out the corner of his eye.
    Sliding in next to him, she threw a warning glare to the knight, who shrugged and turned away, letting her know that he wasn't eavesdropping. If Aya found out that he had, he'd regret it.
    Zac was staring at her with those unusual green eyes of his, like he was trying to think of the right words. After a moment he said, "What do I have to do?"
    She knew what he meant, but she asked the question anyway. "Do about what?"
    He snorted and looked away with a shake of his head, knowing full well that she was stalling. She could never get anything past him.
    Aya frowned, not knowing what to say. Even she didn't understand why she couldn't just let go and give herself to him. All of herself. It wasn't like she hadn't done it before. But, Zac was different. He knew things about her that no one else did, he'd seen things that she would usually compel away. Then there was that thing with Arturius, when her power had turned on her. Who knew what that had triggered inside of her? If she let go for one second, then she was afraid she'd lose control. And Zac made her forget about herself.
    Zac turned his face back towards her, his jaw set. She felt the tension that was building as his leg pressed against hers. He grasped her hand with his right under the table, letting his left trace the inside of her thigh. "Aya, I want  all  of you." He lent closer, his lips brushing against the corner of her jaw. "Why won't you let me? What aren't you saying?"
    "Zac," she said uncomfortably. "We're in public."
    He pulled back sharply, breaking all contact between them and she suddenly felt cold.
    "We've been together for months. There hasn't been a moment we've been apart," he said quietly. "I need some time to think about this."
    "Come back to the manor with me," she whispered.
    "And what?" The faint trace of a sneer pulled at his lips.
    "We can talk without so many ears listening." She glanced across the bar where Tristan was talking to a pretty girl, but still had one eye on them.
    Zac saw who she had glanced at and rolled his eyes. "You know I think Ser Lancelot is a fucking idiot." Tristan's shoulders lifted as he let out a laugh at this, giving away that he was still eavesdropping. Aya knew that the knight was well aware of Zac's feelings and wasn't surprised that he took the opportunity to rub it in.
    "Zac," Aya scolded. "Please. This isn't the