Blood and Redemption (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) Read Free Page A

The dark fae had escaped their prison and now were in charge and bent on revenge.
    “I can’t wait months to go back, Quintus. Every day gives her more time to do something evil.” I couldn’t wait that long to be ready; I needed to go now.
    “I promised I would help you kill Mab, but I won’t run in blindly. I haven’t survived this long by being careless. We’re the only ones who know of this danger and if we’re to have any success, then we need to be as prepared as we can be. We can’t afford to lose when we go.”
    I tried to come up with some argument that would show Quintus he was wrong, but deep down I knew Mab was too powerful to challenge without being fully prepared. Even then, it was a long shot, but so was opening the fae door, and I had done that too.
    Starting that night, we put Quintus’ plan to work. Killian, who was Quintus’ unofficial third in command, was going to help me train in self-defense. I had known him since coming to Vancouver. He spent most of his time in Seattle, but he always made time to come visit when he came to Canada and we always joked around on the phone whenever he called. If it couldn’t be Lucius, then Killian was a good back-up.
    I started with the most basic self-defen se techniques. Killian told me he knew eighty-year-old women who were in better shape. He was right. I had no flexibility or endurance. I was never into exercising and now it showed. So that was going great, and then my magic, which hadn’t been reliable since I had the geis lifted, was playing hide and seek, emphasis on the hide . My mentor felt I was blocking because of what happened the last time I used my magic. I didn’t care why; I just wanted it to work and stop being such a moody bitch.
    Lucius wandered the halls, a pale specter of his former self. The physical bites were gone, but he needed more and more blood to keep the little control he had. I wish I could have helped, but getting back to the wolf compound was what I needed to do, and if I did, then the cure would come. I hated running into him. Sometimes he would look at me with such sadness that it made my heart ache, and other times he would look at me with such hunger and lust, it paralyzed me with fear.
    Every day was a round-the-clock series of lessons designed to get my body and mind into shape. Killian was trying to teach me self-defense and all I felt like was a punching bag. My body was battered and bruised. I was stiff and my muscles were begging me to stop. I thought working with Killian would be fun and relaxed, but he was all business and never even cracked a smile. It made me suspicious that Quintus had said something to him, but I decided to let it go. He had promised not to coddle me anymore and I felt I owed him the benefit of the doubt.
    My days were filled with yoga and relaxation techniques; anything that might allow my magic to come out of its hidey-hole. My mind had decided that my magic was just too dangerous and she put it on lockdown. I was willing to try anything to get rid of this block I had. Quintus, for his part, ran the gambit between being the coddling, encouraging mentor and a psycho drill sergeant. Some nights, I didn’t even remember how I got to bed; I was so tired.
    As I trained, Quintus and Na’min planned. The fae prince gave us every bit of knowledge he had about Mab. As master of Seattle/Vancouver, Quintus used his power to gather vampires from the area; ones he trusted and knew would have our backs in the fight with the fae. It was all starting to come together and it couldn’t happen soon enough for me.
    Christmas Eve came and no one was in a mood to celebrate. Our little group was a sad ragtag bunch. Na’min kept to the guesthouse, coming into the main house only when it was asked of him. He was just as anxious as I was to go back to the wolf compound, and every day we stayed in Vancouver, he grew more and more impatient. He had finally freed his people, only to find them in yet another