Blood Magic Read Free Page B

and being born normal into an almost entirely magical family was a great burden to bear. The problem with Cassia was she bore it with vicious anger.
    Sighing, I pushed Samuel's door open and walked silently to the table by the window. Today, he sat in his rocking chair beside the open bay windows. White gauze curtains billowed on a soft breeze and he seemed to gaze out at the trees but I knew he saw nothing of the view. My heart twisted for him.
    I drew a rickety chair close and sat beside him. "Hello, Samuel," I said, taking his hand in mine. His skin was papery thin, the fingers bony, muscles weak and wiry. His hand twitched as I held it and I smiled. I knew he knew when I visited.
    Samuel Fontaine was not an old man. He was maybe in his late thirties, not the age of a man who should be lingering in a rocking chair, withering away in the twilight of his life. I stared at his once handsome face, high cheekbones now jutting out too far, gorgeous green eyes now faded to a pale luminous non-color.
    But sexy Samuel's been gone a long, long time. Ever since his brain got scrambled doing a jump for Melisande Morgan. What a way to go. My fingers tightened on his and I had to force myself to remember his frailty. I began to pull away when his fingers gripped mine with an intensity I hadn't felt in months. My heart stuttered as I stared at him, eyes wide.
    "Mel?" his voice rasped, as if he hadn't used it in years.
    "Samuel? Yes, it's me." I nodded and smiled, tears threatening to overflow.
    He blinked, his expression slightly unfocused. Then he frowned. "Are you eating? You look skinny."
    I snorted. "Don't worry about me. It's you we are concerned about. We need you back Sam-sam." I leaned close and he placed a palm on my cheek. The curtains billowed into the room, white clouds surrounding us in this impossible dream.
    "I know, baby. But I'm not done yet," he said , smiling. "The girl . . . She needs me."
    My stomach tightened. "What do you mean?"
    A few seconds of silence crawled by as Samuel studied my face with far away pale green eyes. "Patience, Melisande. And don't forget what I taught you," he said softly, his voice fading. "Don't forget . . ."
    "Samuel?" I called him, but I knew he was already gone and my heart ached for him.
    "He spoke to you?" Cassia's voice rang out, so bitter and cold it dropped the temperature in the room by a few degrees. Maybe the woman was magical after all.
    "Yes." I whispered, still holding on to his hand. He'd spoken. He was still there. And what had he meant? 'I'm not done yet?' What did that mean?
    "What did he say?" Her question broke through my thoughts, an angry tide breaking onto my happy, grateful shore.
    I looked up at Cassia and grinned. "He said I was skinny. And he told me not to forget what he'd taught me." I didn't see any reason to tell her the rest. I suspected she'd overheard the last of Samuel's words so that's just what I gave her.
    "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Cassia snapped, her honey eyes flashing. "He hasn't been lucid for months , and you waltz in and he just talks to you out of the blue and says don't forget what he taught you?" She snorted, hands on her hips, eyes wide. "Who the hell do you think you are? You just come in here whenever you feel like, say whatever you want and then leave him to me? Who do you think looks after him? And he talks to you?" Her laugh was hoarse, underlined by a deep bitterness.
    I watched Cassia, her anger an almost palpable thing. She was struggling with her own burdens but all I wanted to do was to slap her as hard as I could across the face.
    "You know what? I'm a bit tired of your whining and moaning. I know you've had it tough but we all have our own bloody demons to deal with. As far as I'm concerned you can just suck it up." The color drained from her skin and I was certain she wasn't sure whether to be shocked, upset or angry. "Take Samuel for instance, he's way worse off than you. Maybe someday we will have him back – from