Assassin's Kiss Read Online Free Page A

her shoulder, but of course, he hadn’t followed.
    He couldn’t. Because he was imprisoned.
    And she’d hit him with witchfire.
    Because he was a murderer .
    Disgust and nausea rolled her stomach. The look he’d given her made her skin crawl.
    “Hey.” Zeebi pulled her in for a hug. “You’re scaring me. What’s going on?”
    “He…” Tessa began. But couldn’t finish. What exactly had he done? Looked at her like he wanted to lock her up and do unspeakable things to her?
    But he was the one locked up. She was safe.
    “Who?” Zeebi released her and gave her a curious look.
    “The…prisoner.” Tessa couldn’t bring herself to say his name. Everyone knew it. Everyone knew the name of the monster who had killed their former leader. The loss of Pennar hadn’t just meant the loss of a good sorcerer. It had spelled the loss of their home, some of their people, and part of their income. Not to mention the growth of unchecked dark magic.
    “Scorpio? You saw him?”
    Tessa nodded and shuddered.
    “What happened?” Zeebi looked her up and down.
    Good question. Tessa shoved a hand into her pocket, trying to settle her mind down. “He was in the cage.”
    “Hmm, they moved him? I heard they were waiting for him to heal…how’d he look?”
    Tessa blinked, recalling the demon who’d made her heart race, and not in a good way. He hadn’t appeared injured, save for a smattering of fresh welts that she guessed had come from the rocks in the pentagram. His clothes hung torn and ragged on his huge body. His biceps looked like he could kill a wolf with their strength. His jaw angled in a strong line, and his lips were too full for such a monster. His hair was buzzed so short she had no idea what color it was…but his eyes were an oddly mesmerizing golden hue.
    Not what she’d expected from a mercenary.
    She took a breath. “He looked okay. At least until I blasted him with witchfire.”
    Zeebi grinned and held up a hand. “High five, girl. He deserves it.”
    Tessa smacked her friend’s hand, but her heart wasn’t in it and Zeebi knew.
    “What else?” Zeebi’s gray eyes narrowed.
    “He, um…” Tessa didn’t know if this was awful, embarrassing, hateful, or all three. “He said something…it doesn’t make any sense.”
    “What? Like he was pissed off at you?”
    “No. He got all crazy, reaching for me and said… ‘ Mine .’” Tessa winced, as if repeating it made it more real.
    “Mine? What the hell does that mean? You’ve never seen him before.”
    “I know.”
    “Maybe you look like someone he used to know,” Zeebi mused. “Does he have a mate?”
    “Ugh. Who’d mate a killer like him?”
    “Another killer.”
    Tessa frowned. “That’s awful. But possible. And I don’t know anything about him, just what he did to Pennar.”
    “Word is he was the personal mercenary to a Ghazsul named Dalamos.”
    “I don’t care. I feel like I need to take a shower after the way he looked at me. It was creepy.”
    “He didn’t touch you, right?” Zeebi asked.
    “No! No way I’d get close enough.”
    “You’ll have to tomorrow,” she muttered.
    “Don’t remind me.”
    “Anyway, no time to shower now. We have work to do.” Zeebi turned and started walking along a splinter path. “Shower later. Those blades won’t spell themselves.”
    Tessa followed her friend. She and Zeebi were gifted in metals, imbuing them with special properties. While many in the coven grew herbs and made all kinds of amulets, some were skilled in the construction of wards, and some made healing potions, Tessa and Zeebi had a rare gift.
    And as soon as the Vespera coven found out, they’d demanded their work. Tessa especially, since her skill set was more powerful. She used her magic to make weapons stronger, to know their user, to fly true, or to create a burning sensation upon impact.
    All horrible things she wouldn’t have to do if Pennar were alive to keep Vespera in check.
    Rage flowed at her coven’s