Turning Night Read Free Page A

you and the child is the way he will do it. When the child is an adult, it will have to choose the society it wishes to live in. There is no doubt about that. I will talk to him before dawn.”
    Max fished her camera out and took a picture of mother and son. “I will need this as proof. I don’t want to carry him with me. Hellebore, stay in this room, stay with Raila and Danlorn.”
    She left and headed for the main floor. She was positive that the father was not going to return alone.

Chapter Three
     
     
    Away from the smells of blood and birth, Max breathed easier.
    She could feel the living beings upstairs, but it was the ones outside that she was concerned about. There was a dark gathering of power, and it was intense.
    Max quickly called the house. When Anthony replied, she spoke quickly. “I need Tonho, and I need him fast.”
    “How fast?”
    “ I will deal with Gregori later fast.”
    She heard him crack his knuckles. “Oy, Tonho. The Apprentice needs you.”
    “What?”
    There was a crackling of power, and Anthony announced. “He is in the front yard.”
    “You are a champ.”
    “I am aware.”
    She hung up and slipped out the door into the front yard. A confused troll was standing next to some begonias.
    “Tonho. I need your help around back. What do you know about midnight elves?”
    “Spirits in elven form. Why?”
    “Because, by my count, there are a dozen of them on their way through the woods. We have Raven, Hellebore, a shifter and a newborn in the house. They can’t come in.”
    He nodded and lumbered around back without further explanation. Trolls were great once they knew what you wanted them to do.
    She retreated through the house, checking for any possible breach sites. The house was secure, and the living, breathing women upstairs were safe.
    Max waited in the kitchen and made a pot of tea while Tonho settled down on his haunches and stared at the woods. He was one of her best friends at home and had a focus on protection that was admirable in the extreme.
    She brought him a mug of peach tea and settled down next to him. “Here you go.”
    “What are they waiting for?”
    “The hour before dawn. We have a few minutes.”
    Tonho sipped at the tea. “Huh. Good blend.”
    “She has a lot of herbal tea, but I know you like peaches.”
    “Thanks, Max. Why are they waiting?”
    “Because, I told the baby’s father that that is the time I would negotiate. Now, I find that he is holding less cards than he thinks.”
    Hulorn appeared out of the forest that backed the yard. “What do you mean?”
    “Do you have exposure to modern tech?” It was a fair question. Many of the modern magical creatures ignored technology as beneath them.
    “I do.”
    “Good. Your child is not what you think it is. It is a splice of your body and Raila’s.” Max brought out her phone and showed him the picture. “This is your son. Danlorn.”
    Hulorn blinked his star-bright eyes. “It isn’t possible.”
    “It is more than possible. It is what has happened. The baby has his mother’s skin, his father’s hair and eyes. Well, his eyes are deep blue with stars in them; they are lovely.”
    He looked at the image of Raila and the infant. As he touched the screen, the image of the baby expanded until its chubby face filled the screen.
    “He isn’t a midnight elf.”
    “No, he isn’t, but the question is, do you want to have anything to do with him, or do you and the rest of your clan just retreat back into the woods.”
    He gave her a slow look. “You know that they are there?”
    “I didn’t come out just to give my companion some tea.”
    Tonho rose to his feet, barring any entrance to the home.
    “You brought a troll?” Hulorn looked shocked. “They eat children.”
    Max scowled at him. “And midnight elves steal them in the middle of the night. Myth can often hide the full truth. It is truth but hardly the full story.”
    Max had looked into trolls when she first started hanging out with