Rush of Pleasure. Rhyannon Byrd

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      “I understand how badly you want to believe that, Will. But at the moment, there’s no way to know for sure.”

      “I’ll get proof,” she vowed, her expression one of fierce determination.

      Protective instincts rose up with surprising speed, catching him off guard. The last thing he needed was Willow running around trying to hunt down Calder. The headstrong woman would end up getting her ass killed. “Damn it, Will. This isn’t some deadbeat dad or petty criminal you’d be trying to track down. You have no idea what you’d be going up against.”

      Her lip curled with a sneer. “This is my sister, Noah. I’m getting her back from that bastard, even if I have to go into hell to do it.”

      “You’re going to have to find her first,” he shot back, realizing she was just as stubborn now as she’d always been. “And that’s nearly impossible.”

      “Just because you haven’t been able to find her doesn’t mean I won’t!”

      “He’s right,” Jessie interrupted, her quiet voice barely audible over the rushed sound of their angry breaths. “If this is our Si with those monsters, it would take some old, dark magic to make her this powerful. Shielding me from finding her. Locking warriors in place with her mind. It’s not something that comes from the light.” Jessie blew out a ragged breath, and adjusted the bizarre rabbit on her head. “If she doesn’t want you to find her, then you won’t.”

      Willow spun toward her aunt. “Are you telling me she’s gone Vader?”

      “Vader?” Noah muttered.

      She waved her hand in the air toward him. “You know. To the dark side.”

      Jessie’s voice was soft, but firm. “Pain has a way of breaking even the strongest of hearts, Will. Instead of judging her, remember how much you love her.”

      “What do you mean about pain?” Noah asked. “I’ve been searching the internet for months, but there’s been nothing reported in the news. What happened to her?”

      Instead of answering his question, Jessie locked her gaze with his and asked one of her own. “Why have you waited so long to bring us this news?”

      Okay. This was where he needed to be careful. “Ever since I first saw Sienna, I’ve been trying to get information about her. I’ve searched newspaper articles and online sources, but haven’t been able to find anything.”

      “That’s because we would never mix our family business with the police.” Jessie sounded horrified by the very idea.

      Noah started to speak, but Willow cut him off. “It’s been five months, Jessie. He obviously wasn’t planning on ever telling us. We’re his last resort.”

      “It’s true that we’ve exhausted all the Watchmen’s sources and no one has been able to help us with the journal,” he grated, hating the way Willow was looking at him. “But I wouldn’t have kept the information about Sienna from you.”

      Her smile was sharp. “Right.”

      “Damn it, I mailed letters to the bar,” he growled, moving to his feet.

      “What letters?” she demanded, glaring up at him. But there was a flicker in her eyes that made him think she didn’t want to believe the worst of him.

      “There were several,” he muttered, scraping a hand through his hair. “They said that I had information about Sienna. I’m assuming no one ever bothered to open them.”

      Willow looked at her aunt. “Did you get his letters?” When Jessie didn’t answer, she crossed her arms over her chest and demanded, “What happened to them?”

      Jessie, who’d been studying the papers in her hand again, looked up and shrugged. “I probably tossed them on the weekly bonfire.”

      Willow closed her eyes, apparently counting to ten. When she opened them again, she looked at Jessie and said, “If you refuse to use modern forms of communication, then you need to take the time to open your mail.”

      “But I didn’t want to read anything from Noah.”

      “I get that,” she snapped. “But we could have known about Sienna months ago.”

      Jessie’s eyes looked owlish as she blinked. “How was I to know that?”

      “You would have known if you’d opened the bloody letters!”

      “You expect me to open every piece of mail that comes to the bar?” Jessie shuddered, as if the idea were revolting. “Do you have any idea how many people send me letters?”

      Willow’s nostrils flared. “You know, Jessie, if you don’t like reading mail, then get a bloody telephone. Or at least have one put in at the bar.”

      Jessie sniffed, then turned her attention back to Noah. “There’s something else I want to know. Why didn’t you send one of your friends? There was no reason for you to come here yourself. One of the others could have done it just as easily.”

      Shoving his hands in his pockets, he gave her the truth. “They don’t know … what Sienna used to be like. After the things she’s done, I didn’t want to take the chance that I would be putting any of you in danger.”

      “You haven’t told them about her family? About us?” she asked with surprise.

      He shook his head. “They’re aware that I know her, because I called her by name. But I’ve refused to tell them anything else about her.”

      Willow gave a short, bitter laugh, as if the idea of him doing something honorable was funny, but Jessie simply smiled. “So you came yourself to protect Si and her family? I appreciate that. And I find that admirable, even if you are a Winston. But what about your own skin?”

      CHAPTER THREE

      HIS OWN SKIN?

      “What about it?” Noah hedged, wondering where this was headed.

      “Your family is one of the strongest Casus bloodlines,” Jessie murmured. “During the thousand years that the Casus were trapped within Meridian, they turned to shades, requiring a human host when they managed to escape and return to this world.” Jessie was clearly demonstrating just how much she knew about the Casus and their history. “If the big guy is free with his right-hand men,” she added, arching her brows, “aren’t you worried?”

      His laugh was harsh. “It would be stupid not to be.”

      “Very true,” she agreed. “Why do you suppose none of your family has been taken as hosts before now?”

      Noah rolled a shoulder. “Who knows? Rumor has it they were saving us for last. But I don’t know what will happen now. The few shades that got away with Calder, if they still need hosts, will probably come after us. But we haven’t seen any sign of them yet.”

      Thanks to the Watchmen, he had sources all over the world keeping an eye out, but so far there’d been no sightings of Calder or the Casus shades that had escaped СКАЧАТЬ