This Battle Lord's Quest Read Free Page A

no-nonsense. Authoritative. The tone of someone who expected to be obeyed,
and immediately. Both Yulen and MaGrath jumped toward her, but it was Yulen who
lifted his mother into his arms and carried her into the clinic’s examination
room where he laid her on the padded table.
    “This is where you say, ‘Good evening, Mother. Talk
to you later.’ And leave,” MaGrath informed the Battle Lord.
    Atty watched as Yulen lifted his mother’s hand and
kissed it, then bent to kiss her forehead. “Good evening, Mother. Be well. I’ll
talk to you later.” He bowed further to let Mattox kiss his grandmother
goodbye. “Say bye-bye, Matt.”
    “Bye-bye, Nana.” The child placed a wet kiss on the
sallow cheek, then father and son left the room.
    Atty went over to the table and gazed down at the
woman. Over against the wall where MaGrath kept his supplies and instruments in
cabinets and drawers, the two physicians were laying out what they needed while
in deep discussion.
    “You’re going to be fine now,” she reassured the
older woman. “Liam’s a damn good doctor. And if this guy’s the one who taught
him what he knows, you couldn’t be in better hands.”
    “I know.” Madigan’s gaze shifted over to the men.
“I never thought he would come this far, much less make it.”
    “Well, the world’s a better place, now that the
Bloods have moved on. The roads are safer, even with the Marauders around, and
I don’t see those hoodlums remaining in the neighborhood much longer. Give
Yulen a couple more months, and those assholes will start searching for greener
pastures, too.”
    “Atty? Please?” MaGrath walked up, signaling it was
time she left.
    Bending over, Atty kissed the woman’s temple,
adding a smile. “I’ll be back tomorrow, okay?”
    Madigan replied with a slight nod.
    MaGrath showed her to the door. “Do me a favor and
turn over the closed sign on the clinic door, would you, Bluebell?”
    “Sure. Anything else?”
    “Nope. Thanks.”
    She leaned in to place a kiss on his cheek. When
she moved back, she looked into the physician’s eyes. “She’s going to sail
through this, Liam. Trust me.”
    He inhaled a shaky breath. “I hope so. I’ve been
doing a hell of a lot of praying these past few months.”
    “If you need me or Yulen, don’t hesitate to send
for us.”
    “I won’t. Thanks.”
    Giving the man a reassuring pat on his shoulder,
Atty left the building, making sure to turn the sign on the door to show the
clinic was closed. She hurried across the small section of land that separated
the main hall and clinic from her and Yulen’s home. While they had been inside
with the physicians, night had fallen, throwing handfuls of stars into the
heavens and a chilly blanket across the land.
    Opening the front door, she paused. The living area
was empty. Glancing overhead at the bedroom, she listened. There was nothing.
“Yulen?”
    Oddly, there was a single candle burning on the
side table next to the door. The rest of the house was pitch black, and her
senses told her she was alone. Which meant the Battle Lord had taken their son
with him, wherever he’d gone.
    Shrugging to herself, Atty ascended the spiral
staircase to the second floor. She lit the lantern on the wall sconce beside
the bed, then sat down on the edge of the mattress to remove her boots. As she
did every night since they’d moved back into the rebuilt and refurbished home
that Rafe D’Jacques had tried to demolish five months ago, she stared at the
new hand-carved headboard. Like the old one Rafe’s men had burned, it bore her
and Yulen’s symbols, a massive longbow on the right, and a representation of
her husband’s sword on the left. At the top, in the center where bow and blade
met, however, a new symbol had been added. It was a small eye. An eye without a
pupil or distinct iris, but which small rays were shone emanating from it, as
if it were a small sun.
    Smiling, Atty tossed her boots to the side. She was
hungry. No,