Chasing Bloodlines (Book 4) Read Online Free Page B

point across.”
    She nodded slowly. “Please do not do this,” she finally said.
    He looked up in surprise. “I must.”
    “I do not want to lose you as soon as I have found you.”
    “You will not lose me.”
    She crouched on the ground and laid herself on the floor, coming up to the edge of the bath. It was amusing to watch, and he could not help the grin that rose to his lips. “Please tell me more.”
    “Of?”
    “Of your time in the Castrofax.”
    He trailed a line in the water with a finger. “Can you bear to hear more?”
    “If you could endure it, I can bear to hear it.”
    He chuckled softly. “You asked how I could remember the number of soldiers I killed. Nolen gave me a whiplash for every single one.”
    Her face contorted. “Your back could handle that?”
    “No. And it was not just the back. When my skin could no longer take a lash, he brought in a Spirit Mage to repair me; then he started again.”
    “Oh my stars,” she whispered and put a hand over her eyes. “What else?”
    He shrugged an arm. “Four days and three nights worth of torture. I cannot detail it all. Regardless, in the end I was healed as good as new.”
    “No,” she said and pointed to her temple, “Nolen left his mark here.”
    “Give me time,” he whispered, “I will be the same as I used to be.”
    “I will not give up on you,” she replied and reached out to him. He stepped closer, so she could stroke his face. Ever so gently she brought him closer, carefully kissing his cheek. He cupped her chin and turned her face, kissing her lips instead. “Does it not bother you?” she whispered.
    “No,” he replied and kissed her again, wrapping an arm around her back. “Not anymore.” Her hand twined around his neck, and his went for her shoulders. In one swift movement, he pulled her into the bath. She screamed and clutched his shoulders.
    “You wretched creature,” she shouted. “Are you naked?”
    “Yes.”
    Robyn released him in a huff and marched out of the bath, dripping. She collected every fiber of cloth she could find; towels, rugs, the curtains off the window, and she threw them outside the washroom announcing, “Make clothes now , Head Mage.”
    He leaned back in the water, letting the warmth encompass him into his tired bones. He relaxed as he planned his battle with the Shalabane, the negotiations he would make, and the patterns he would use if it came to war. It would be easier to make a statement rather than kill. Shalaban had only a few Class Six Mages, and they lacked the diversity to sidestep. Through all his deliberation, he could still not work out why they wanted him.
    He lifted his head out of the water, “Naked, you say?” Mikelle said walking in. “You forgot this one. He hides it incase this situation were to happen,” she pulled a towel out from behind a cabinet and rushed out.
    “Hey!” Gabriel shouted. “I have armies to battle, and Generals to dissuade.”
    “Can’t if you cannot handle your own castle,” Mikelle replied with a nose in the air.
    “LAEL!”
    “He cannot help you. He’s busy.”
    He rolled his eyes and shifted into his dressing room. He managed to nearly dress before he heard:
    “How come she’s seen you naked?”
    Gabriel shucked on a coat and strode out. Still tucking his shirt in, he said, “Wish I could chat, so sorry to leave.”
    “You don’t know what you’re missing.” Mikelle said with a sly smile.
    “STARS ABOVE!” Gabriel lengthened his stride and passed through the anteroom. “A lot of help you are,” he said to Lael.
    “I try not to get involved when those two are in the same room,” the Secondhand smiled. “That’s a fancy coat.”
    “I would like you to accompany me to the battle field and meet with the Shalabane.”
    “Anyone else?”
    “Dagan and Lewis, and possibly Mikelle if she shapes up.”
    “Just Dagan and Lewis then. Let me find a nicer coat, and I will fetch them,” Lael said with a bow and exited the room.
    Mikelle