Blackhearted Betrayal Read Online Free Page A

the past little while.”
     
    “Damn tease. At least tell me if I know the guy.”
     
    “You have previously made his acquaintance, I believe.” She pushed me gently away from her doorway. “Now, that’s all the info you’re allowed until you get back from your leave, or we’ll
never
get any work done because you’ll be busy hounding me or, even worse, the poor guy who may very well at
some
point get lucky.”
     
    Trinity dated a lot—with her good looks, sharp brains, and sly sense of humor, no surprise there—but she guarded her heart carefully and took her time before deciding whether a guy was worth getting more intimate with. She was like me in that regard, probably one of the reasons we had connected so well as partners. For all our differences, we had a lot of the same core values. Like our dedication to the MCU and protecting the people of Boston from various and sundry magical crimes. I couldn’t think of a better person, mortal
or
arcane, to entrust my city with during my absence. Goodthing, too, because there really wasn’t anyone else I
could
entrust it to.
     
    We spent the next few hours going over various mundane—but necessary—administrative minutiae, with me trying like crazy to ferret out more details from her regarding the guy who had sent her such lovely flowers. She didn’t crack the slightest bit, taking extreme pleasure in watching me try without success to guess who the new man in her life was. I finally gave up when we knocked off for the night, she presumably to head off for a dinner date with Mr. Mysterious, and me heading to Scott’s apartment so we could hopefully enjoy a repeat of the night before—minus the overbearing Harpy Queen—before I left for gods knew how long to clean house in the Palladium. A Fury’s job was just
never
done.
     

CHAPTER TWO
     
    WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS HAD TRIED TO KILL me over the years, you’d think I would get used to it. Then again, the fact I hadn’t
completely
gotten used to it was the reason nobody had yet managed to do me in, not permanently anyway. Temporary death—there’d been a few of those. Nothing I’d like to repeat anytime soon—especially considering how much I’d pissed off Scott’s Jackal-Faced god that last time. Being two times a cop—Fury and Chief Magical Investigator—meant two times the psychos out for my blood. Of course, getting that very real threat through my fifteen-year-old niece’s head at precisely nine the next morning was easier said than done.
    “Aunt Riss, I just don’t understand wh—”
     
    I turned from the subway entrance and narrowed my eyes at my soon-to-be apprentice. “What part of
be quiet
did you
not
understand, apprentice?”
     
    She flushed when I used her title rather than name and had the sense to actually shut her trap. Stubborn she might be (hmm, wonder where she got
that
from?), but she learned quickly, a quality that would serve her well during her training. Assuming I could keep her alive long enough to swear her oaths to the Sisterhood. A flash of red teased my peripheral vision, and I whirled, instinctively placing my body in front of Cori’s. Normally, the red leather uniform of a Fury meant safety and support, but not so much these days, with civil war brewing among the three classes of Furies.
     
    The hint of red
did
prove to be a Fury’s uniform, but no threat to Cori or me. My mother swept out of the subway station’s door, flanked by the two Furies she had mentioned the day before. Mom zeroed in on us straightaway. She nodded to each of her informal bodyguards, who took up posts at the sides of the doorway while Mom jogged the last few feet separating us. We exchanged smiles, but she focused most of her attention on Cori, drawing her into a bear hug and murmuring into her ear. Cori alternately grinned and flushed, torn between adolescent pride and embarrassment over the big deal Mom was making over her. No surprise she made such a fuss; it was the first time