Zora's Dawn (Defender Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

continued, “The meaning of Zora is dawn.
Hayes is from an ancient Celtic name O hAodha, or O Haye. It means fire. So
your name essentially means dawn fire. And you bear this name for a good
reason. If you and a werewolf meet at dawn, you have the ability to cause the
werewolf to burn.”
    Zora was
fully gaping at him. “You’re not serious! How on earth do I make a creature
spontaneously combust? That’s crazy.”
    “You can
Zora, it is part of the fairy spell. That is why the fairy is coming. Your
mother would have shown you if she was still here, and it is a secret passed
down from mother to daughter. This fairy is coming to teach you how be a defender.”
    “Oh my
God, my life has turned into a horror movie. I just want to go home and put on
my pyjamas and make a pot of tea, or maybe open a bottle of wine.”
    “I do
understand how you feel, but this is real and not a movie. It is unfortunate
that you are not better prepared for this, but being a defender is in your
blood. I believe that you will adjust to it all very quickly if you open your
mind.”
    Zora held
out her empty coffee cup. “I need fortification Powers, I need time to
assimilate this, but mostly I need caffeine. And then I need to go home and try
to take it all in.” Powers took her cup and went wordlessly into the house.
Time enough to tell her she wouldn’t be going home when she had consumed more
caffeine.

CHAPTER FOUR

    Zora
glared at the person sitting at the kitchen table. For once it was not Powers
she was mad at, although when he had told her she would need to stay with him
in his house she had been pretty unhappy. No, this was a new person – if person
was the right description. This was the fairy, arrived early that morning while
she was sleeping and apparently fairies were morning people. Zora hated morning
people, fairies, whatever. Nobody should be cheerful so early. And besides,
since when were fairies six feet four and exploding with muscles and male !
And where were his wings? It was just all wrong.
    She
frowned grumpily and tuned out his excessively cheerful voice as she began to
search for the tea. Powers had better have decent tea in his kitchen since he’d
basically shanghaied her into staying with him. Ok, it kind of made sense that
she may be in danger and that time was short and it was much more efficient for
them to be in the same place once the others started arriving. But still, he’d
better have good tea in his kitchen. Especially since she’d had very little
time to pack clothes for a few days and she forgot her special mug.
    Powers
chose that moment to appear fresh from the shower. He’d disappeared as soon as
the fairy – Axel, what sort of a name was that for a fairy – had been
introduced. She turned her temper onto him looking so fresh and calm and edible
while she was frazzled and still in her nightclothes and desperate for her tea
and some earplugs. Powers smiled at the picture she made, like an angry
Valkyrie in his kitchen, but one that could be appeased with a pot of tea.
    He reached
into a cupboard and withdrew a teapot, her favourite type of tea (leaves, not
bags) and a fine porcelain mug in exactly the style she liked best. Zora gazed
suspiciously at his offerings and at him, decided that it really didn’t matter
that he did that crawl in her head thing sometimes, and accepted them with a
small frown. Powers deduced, correctly, that this meant thank you but don’t
think it gets you off the hook for bringing this annoying person here and
smiled a wider smile.
    Axel,
meanwhile, had continued telling Zora about his plan for her training. Powers
knew she hadn’t listened to a single word, but decided it wasn’t his business
and said nothing. While Zora fussed with her tea he got the coffee machine
going and waved a mug in the direction of Axel who accepted the wordless
invitation with a smile. When everyone was sitting at the table, and Zora had
drunk most of her first cup, Axel turned