Unleashed Fury (BloodRunes: Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Devon was struggling
to lift a large burlap bag over the fence and into the mud hole
that served as a compost pile. Layna paused for a moment with
indecision, but then shrugged off her unease and moved towards him
to help. She grabbed a corner of the bag and together they lifted
it over the fence. It made a dull thud before water started seeping
up through the frost and it slowly sunk a few inches.
    “Thank you, Layna,” Devon acknowledged with
an odd smile.
    Layna hoped her nodded reply didn't show her
surprise and fear that he knew her name. She hurried off, feeling
his eyes watching her, and she shivered again. This time it had
nothing to do with the cold.
    Soon the rising sun burned away the last of
the morning fog, and her chill from the encounter diminished as the
warm rays thawed her cold body. Layna hummed as she spread grain
for the chickens, while methodically checking each of their nests
for eggs. She let her mind wander, and her thoughts turned once
again to Lord Gryffon, as they so often had been of late. It was a
constant struggle between her head and her heart. Her good sense
told her that no matter the outcome of her infatuation with the
man, it was bound to be bad news. Either she would end up with a
broken heart; as she let her feelings get out of control and
inevitably those feelings were never returned. She was, after all,
only a maid. Or, even if the impossible were to come true and he
were to return her interest, where would that get her? Quite
possibly a one-way trip into the basement accompanied by Devon.
    A sharp pain in her hand brought her abruptly
back to her surroundings. She realized that in her day-dream she
had left her hand down where the chickens could reach it while
feeding them. One was busily trying to pick every last crumb from
her finger and had ended up taking some skin with it. Layna
withdrew her hand and sucked on the offending digit, where a tiny
droplet of blood was forming. She quickly threw the rest of the
feed down onto the ground, and the chickens converged to gobble it
up.
    She hurried through the rest of the chore of
collecting eggs, and made her way back to the kitchen with her
prizes. When she arrived, the cook was already bustling around in
the overheated room, and he barely had time for a nodded
affirmation of the proffered eggs. Layna enjoyed the warmth, and
made her way to the servants' table where the cook had indicated
that breakfast was set out for them. She sat in front of her meal
of porridge and a leftover roll, and was surprised to see a note
next to the plate. She glanced around the room, but other than the
cook, who was paying no attention to her, no one was around.
Cautiously, she picked it up and saw that her name was scrawled on
the back. Hmm , she wondered, who would be leaving me a
note? She carefully broke the seal and unfolded the letter.
    “Layna,” it read, “My apologies for upsetting
you yesterday. Please accept this as a token of my desire for your
friendship. Very Sincerely, Gryffon (Just Gryffon).”
    She tilted the note and a small charm
attached to a delicate chain slid out into her palm, a slight
tingle passing through her as she touched it. At first she was
elated, holding the necklace up to look at it, searching its design
for hidden meanings. No more than a split second later, however,
her senses kicked in and alarm overtook her. She quickly glanced
around again to see if anyone was looking before pocketing the
necklace. If Jezebel ever finds out that Gryffon gave me a
gift ...she shuddered at the unfinished thought.
    She'd decide what to do with it later; it was
too much for her to think about this early in the morning. She
stuffed the rest of the roll in her mouth and hurried out of the
kitchen to start the day.
     
    *
    Jezebel tramped through the halls of the
manor irritably. W here are all the servants when I need
one? She passed by the kitchen and was almost knocked over by a
girl traveling much too quickly in her hallways. She