Destroyer Rising Read Free

will keep watch over the store,” Aideen said. She
grimaced and looked away, and I felt the guilt gnawing at my
brain.
    I started for the back room, making sure that Alan
and Beth were following me. Peanut trotted along at my heel, and I
ruffled the fur on his head. “He's a lot more calm than Bubbles,
usually. That's the one you really need to—”
    The saloon-style doors burst open, and Bubbles
charged through, knocking me into the edge of the counter and
sending me to the floor with a curse. I watched upside down as
Bubbles sailed into Alan’s arms, landing with her paws around his
neck. He grunted and spat, trying to get away from her enormous
pink tongue.
    I dragged myself back onto my feet just in time for
Bubbles to charge back at me. The impact slammed me into the wall
before she vanished into the back again. If I’d felt bad before,
now it felt like the entire room spun around me.
    Beth released a sharp laugh. I looked up at her and
sighed, and her mouth snapped closed.
    “No respect,” I muttered, standing up again and
brushing myself off. I looked over the top of the door and nodded.
“Alright, they’re both back in their hole.”
    “How far under the shop have they dug?” Alan
asked.
    “Straight to hell, I think.”
    “What?” Beth asked, following us through the
saloon-style doors. I caught her staring at the old grandfather
clock, ticking in the relative silence. Bubbles and Peanut
scratched at the floor beneath us.
    I pointed at the jagged hole in the wall. “They
carved out a den. It’s …”
    “Huge,” Alan said. “At least the building didn’t
collapse yet.”
    I flashed the werewolf a grin. “So optimistic with
that ‘yet,’ Alan. Come on.” I started up the staircase, turned at
the landing by the back door, and led Beth and Alan the rest of the
way up the carpeted steps.
    “So, what did Koda send you over here with?”
    I looked back when Beth didn’t respond. She still
stood at the end of the bookshelves, staring up at the hall of
tomes that ran from one end of the building to the other. Maybe
she’d be one of those not-so-bad blood mages. Ashley liked her, and
that spoke volumes in my book.
    “Beth?” I said, lowering myself onto one of the wide
dark leather chairs around the low oak table. Alan pulled up
another chair. Beth paused by the section of shelves that held two
dozen of our oldest books on Wiccans. She started to reach for one,
and then stopped.
    “Beth?” I said.
    “Sorry. I just … you have more books on witches than
I expected.”
    I squinted and nodded as I tried to remember the
number. “I think we have about two hundred and sixty of them now.
You’re welcome to borrow them, outside of a few of the more
dangerous volumes.”
    She stood in one place and stared at me until I
started to fidget. I don’t mind eye contact, but damn, not blinking
is unnerving. The moment passed and she hurried down the aisle.
“Thank you. That’s very generous.” She dropped into one of the open
chairs, and pushed down on the deep leather.
    “Good for naps,” Alan said, stretching his legs out
with a lazy smile.
    I gave Alan a slow nod. “You’ve learned my most
secret of secrets. You can never leave here alive.”
    “Just ignore him,” Alan said. “He has a terrible
sense of humor.”
    Beth gave the werewolf a somewhat nervous smile and
unfolded her purse. Golden light filled the void within, and I sat
up straighter.
    I cursed when the light exploded in the dimly lit
nook into a blinding gold sun. “What did you bring into this
house?” I held up my hand, ready to call a shield. When nothing
happened, I reached for the shelf beside me.
    “Oh, not that thing,” Alan said as I picked up a
brown, shriveled ear.
    I held it in my palm and reached out to Beth.
    “What is it?” she asked.
    “A silence charm. No one will hear us.”
    “What's it made out of?” She asked, pressing her palm
against it with less hesitation than I’d expected. The fleshy ear
pressed