Daughter of the Red Dawn (The Lost Kingdom of Fallada) Read Online Free Page A

met his narrowed gaze with her wide-eyed one.
    “You shouldn’t be here, with me,” he said, his voice a low growl.
    Selena frowned. “But you —”
    “I saw you earlier Selena, running through this field. You were so … ” he trailed off, his Adam’s a pple bobbing as he swallowed, “ … b eautiful. If only you knew the power you possessed, how important you are, and how dangerous I am to you…” he paused again, groaning in frustration and tearing his gaze away from hers. “Run, Selena.”
    “What are you talking about? What are you saying?”
    “Run!”
    His voice was animalistic this time, a roar that shook Selena to her very core. He leaned toward her, barring his teeth as another primal growl rumbled through his chest. Selena was sure that his canines lengthened, glistening behind his lips in the moonlight.
    Scared to death, Selena gladly took his advice.
    She turned on her heels and ran from Titus for the second time in one day.
    Once home , Selena was grateful to find that Rose had gone to bed for the night. She checked all of the doors and windows to be sure that they were locked before fleeing to her room. She closed the door and sank to the floor, Titus’ words whirling through her mind like a Texas twister.
    If only you knew the power you possessed … how dangerous I am to you.
    So she hadn’t been exaggerating . He’d told her with his own mouth that he was a danger to her. And to think, she’d almost ignored her intuition and allowed herself to be alone with him in an empty field at night. The situation had ‘horror movie’ written all over it.
    But then, curiosity reared its ugly head once again. If Titus was so concerned about hurting her, why had he come to the Dairy Queen that night? Why pursue her after she’d run away from him this afternoon? How w as he thi s cute, charming boy one minute and a menacing psychopath the next?
    One thing as for sure, Selena did not have any interest in finding out.
    Well, maybe just a little.
    ~*~

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Mollac, Fallada
     
    “What news from the world of men, my Queen ?”
    Eranna curled her blood red lips into a sneer as she turned to find Ushma, her most faithful witch, shuffling through the door to her chambers. She wrinkled her nose at the old hag before turning back to the mirror resting against the wall in a gilded frame.
    “He has not yet fulfilled his duty, Ushma. I fear that we may have to take extraordinary measures.”
    “Even more extraordinary than taking his family hostage?”
    Eranna sighed and rolled her eyes in annoyance as Ushma shuffled toward her and back into her line of vision. Heavens, she hated having to look at them , but the Witches had their uses. Ushma, with her pointed nose, wart blemished chin, and leather y skin, was perhaps the ugliest of them all. However, Eranna knew that tolerating their presence was well worth it. When she was High Queen of Fallada, she would banish the ugly creatures to some far-flung corner of the country where she would never have to look upon them again.
    With that decided Eranna turned back to the gilded mirror and ignored the ugly, gray-robed, hump-backed mass that was Ushma. She ran her hands over the ruby-red silk gown she had put on for dinner, the perfect complement to her snow white skin and midnight-black hair. She turned to the side and felt a smirk pulling at the corners of her mouth as she eyed her perfect figure.
    Two-hundred years old and one would think she was only one hundred, so perfectly trim her body was.
    “It would seem that taking the W ere-boy’s parents into our custody w as enough to send him into the human world, yet not enough to bring Eladria of Damu to me. I have been watching him through The Eye of Mollac. He is taken by her innocence and beauty .”
    She spat the last word like a foul curse, jealousy curling low in her belly at the thought of anyone’s beauty surpassing her own. She’d seen Princess Eladria of Damu through the Eye. She’d seen