by Nancy Gideon
“If I had to take you for a mate, I’d let you kill me.”
Cale Terriot released her, taking a precautionary step back. His glance caught on Kendra and held for a long second, his gaze sweeping from her wet hair over the water-splotched silk robe she held together in front to her bare calves and feet.
“Wait until I tell my brother that you put your hands on me,” Brigit seethed. “Next time his aim will be better and he’ll take your head.”
Cale gestured to the scar that cut through his left eyebrow and scored the top of his cheekbone. “Make sure you tell Silas I think of him often and not fondly. And that I’m looking forward to our next time being our last time.” He intercepted the palm flashing toward his face like a snake strike. His drawl was chilly. “Always the lady. Five minutes. Don’t make me wait.”
He pulled the door shut behind him.
“You’re a bullying little punk, Cale, and you’re never going to get away with this. Never!” Brigit turned to Kendra, flushed with temper. “If it comes down to him as your only choice, throw yourself out a high window.”
“Bree, what on earth is going on?” Kendra secured her robe around her now-shivering form. “What was Cale doing here?”
“He’s come to personally escort me off the premises. If he thinks he’s going to get rid of me that easily, he’s wrong! Did you hear me, you bastard?” That last was elevated for the sake of anyone on their floor listening.
Kendra heard only one thing. “You’re leaving?”
At the sound of her dismay, her cousin’s attitude crumpled. “I’m sorry, Kendra. This is my fault. I should have . . .” She swiped angrily at the sudden shimmer in her eyes, her mood growing serious. “We don’t have a lot of time.”
Numbly, Kendra stared up at her. “You’re leaving me here? Alone? With them?”
Brigit caught her up in a tight embrace, her tone shaking with urgency. “Not for long. It won’t be for long. I swear it!” Then she pushed away. “I’ve got to hurry.”
In shock, Kendra sat on the foot of the bed as Brigit raced about their small apartment flinging random things into an open bag. What had happened? She couldn’t form the question as she watched her cousin yank one of her fancy party dresses from the closet. When she reappeared from the bathroom after sweeping all the toiletries that would fit into a gallon zip-top bag, Kendra rose on unsteady legs to meet her.
“I can’t do this without you,” she whispered in a tight little voice.
They hugged hard, shedding tears together in a panic of dread and despair. Finally, Brigit took a fractured breath and told her, “Silas won’t let this happen. He loves you, Kendra. You know that.”
She nodded weakly.
“Don’t let them see your fear. If they smell it on you, you won’t be able to keep them back. You’re better than them, smarter than them. Remember that. I’m sorry I let this happen. We’ll be back for you soon. I promise!”
A hard rap. “Time.”
Brigit snatched up her single bag and jerked open the door. She confronted Cale on the threshold, towering over him in her heels. In a magnificent fury, she got into his expressionless face to warn, “If you touch her, if you hurt her, I will come after you with the biggest blade I can find. And I won’t begin with your neck.”
He never blinked before speaking with a low, deep menace. “Enough. Behave or be unconscious.” He took her arm and pushed her toward a silent sentry in the hall who began to march her toward the stairs.
Kendra dropped to her knees, pressing her cheek to Cale’s knuckles so he would feel the heat of her tears.
“My prince, I beg you. Please don’t strip me of my family. Please, Cale.”
Her anguished gaze took in his harshly magnetic features; strong, scowling lines beneath short, dark blond hair shot through with Terriot red.
He took a quick breath. Anger didn’t quite disguise the flicker of agitation as he pulled his hand away. “Don’t ever do that again.”
She searched for some sign of sympathy in the steel-gray eyes that stared down at her, unmoved and pitiless. He drew her to her feet with deference. “We’re your only family now,” he said, and walked away.
Kendra huddled in the doorway, panting wildly as the truth closed around her like a noose. She was on her own, surrounded by a clan of ruthless preternatural beings determined to rip away the only thing of value she could still cling to.
Her virginity.
Also by Nancy Gideon
Masked by Moonlight
Chased by Moonlight
Captured by Moonlight
Bound by Moonlight
Hunter of Shadows
Seeker of Shadows
We hope you enjoyed reading this Pocket Star Books eBook.
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2012 by Nancy Gideon
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First Pocket Star Books ebook edition December 2012
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ISBN: 978-1-4516-8947-1
Table of Contents
Cover
Dedication
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-one
Chapter Twenty-two
Chapter Twenty-three
‘Prince of Shadows’ Excerpt
Copyright
