The Wolf in His Arms (The Runes Trilogy) Read Free

father.”
    “What
about this?” Lucy said, palming the Meredith Stone. She lifted the stone to the
light and studied the intricately carved facets. “The symbols on here match our
paperwork.” She turned her attention to Alec. “Darius sent this to you. Why?”
    Alec
shook his head. “I don’t know. He didn’t say anything. It’s not like there was
a note, saying, ‘Here. Use this to decipher our secret language.’”
    Jared
perked up. “But what if that’s exactly what it’s for? What if it’s like the
Rosetta Stone?”
    “The
Rosetta Stone was like a key,” Alec said. “How did it work?”
    Jared
sat back hard, rocking his chair as frustration coursed through him. “The
Rosetta Stone was helpful because it was also translated into a language
archaeologists already knew.” Jared sighed. “We don’t have that.”
    “What
if this isn’t it?” Alec asked.
    “What
isn’t it?” Jared asked.
    “What
if this isn’t the complete stone?”
    Lucy’s
head snapped up. “This is only one part of the translation. One language. This
language,” she said, tapping a stack of papers. “We still need the half in
English.”
    “The
name bothers me, too,” Alec said. “The Meredith Stone.” He looked from Jared to
Lucy. “It can’t be a coincidence that Meredith is our mom’s middle name.”
    “I’ve
always felt that she knows more than she’s told us,” Lucy said. “But I’m not
ready to go down that road. Not yet.”
    Jared
said, “But where might we find the other half of the translation?” He looked at
the table, hoping they wouldn’t notice he changed the subject.
    “Did
Darius ever send you anything?” Alec asked.
    Jared
shook his head. “No. He counted on our connection.”
    Lucy
kept her eyes fixed on Jared a bit too long, before she added, “Then we’re at
square one.”
    “Where
the hell’s the rest of the pack?” Alec asked, pushing back from the table and
standing, signaling that he was too frustrated to continue.

 
The Dazzling Demeters
    Neon
was giving Nadia Demeter a headache. It sparkled on her skin. It shimmered in
the fountains. It rippled across the skyline. It flashed in the corners of her
eyes.
    She
avoided eye contact with the hordes of enthralled tourists as she strutted down
The Boulevard. Day slipped lazily into night, and the chaos she felt coming off
the crowds around her was—annoying. She was running late, per usual, for her
act, and her mother, Helena, with whom she performed, would be irate. Too fucking bad for her, Nadia thought
sourly. Nadia glanced up at the happy faces briefly. Las Vegas was a
wonderland. A playground. 24/7 joy...unless you lived and worked there. Then,
it was a job. A place to exist.
    A place to wait until something
better happened in your poor, pathetic life other than running a freak show
with your mother. Nadia loved her mother—desperately—it was just the two of them. But she had the
ache to leave Las Vegas. To do something different and new, even something
conventional. But she also knew that her mother needed her for the show.
    The Dazzling Demeters .
    In
flouncy, sparkling outfits, she and her mother read minds, predicted futures, and
cracked quite a few not-too-bad jokes. Their rapport was excellent. The crowd
loved their Sonny-and-Cher, Dorothy-and-Sophia quipping—a pairing that had
worked for comedians for centuries. Nadia was the straight man, and it suited
her. She could deliver a dry, stinging barb with a finesse that made even
mothers in the crowd laugh (though they were glad their daughters didn’t speak to them that way).
    As she entered
backstage, Helena said, “You’re late. Always late.” She stubbed out a
half-smoked cigarette into an overflowing ashtray. “Where do you go all the
time?”
    “Around.
Away. Relaxation. You should try it some time.”
    “Hey!
We’re not on stage,” Helena warned.
    Nadia
kissed her mother on the cheek. “I’m dressed. See?” She said as she opened her
coat releasing