Daybreak Read Online Free Page A

prisoners from the truck. The process was arduous, as most were hobbled by injuries or pure, cold fear. But at least Tru stuck around long enough to offer his aid—no matter the don’t-give-a-shit smile on his lush lips. Despite the grace and power in his sleek body, Pen noticed that his arms shook. Shifting depleted him as badly as magic did her.
    After boosting herself into the truck, she worked on freeing the rest of the bound prisoners. Had she been truly tied or wired in that chicken coop of a vehicle, she would’ve behaved like a wolverine. Chew loose. Escape by any means, even without her magic. But most of the prisoners simply languished. Hoping for rescue in this age was the same as waiting to die.
    She couldn’t relate, but she sympathized.
    One captive, however, was not so passive. Tru had climbed inside to join her and worked to loosen fastenings on the truck’s left side while Pen faced the boy who’d sat beside her for the whole journey. He’d cringed when she worked to wrench free. But with the guards dead, he didn’t cower anymore. She wiped blood on her leggings and got a better grip on her knife, ready to help.
    “What’s your name?”
    Keen brown eyes above a wide mouth watched her face as she worked on his ties. He had lovely dark skin, all smooth and free of the worry he must feel. “Adrian.”
    “You ready to get out of here, Adrian?”
    “Yes, I am.” He hesitated, not even speaking when he brought around his free hands. Fingers petted wrists, almost nervously. “You’re . . . You’re her, aren’t you?”
    She stilled. “Who?”
    “The Orchid.”
    Those remaining in the truck fell silent. If she looked behind her, she’d find what she always did: a mixture of awe, fear, and reserve. The Orchid inspired that in people—just as she’d intended years ago. Pen had found the strategy useful when rallying troops against impossible odds and providing comfort for the fallen. But the legend had outpaced her abilities.
    “My name is Pen,” she said quietly. “You may call me that.”
    Adrian seemed only a little chastened. He continued to watch her with a gaze bordering on worshipful.
    Fantastic. Both she and Tru had acolytes. But they could be of use.
    She freed the boy, then faced the remaining captives. “I’m looking for Arturi Mäkinen’s refuge. Can anyone tell me where it is?”
    Silence. But Pen had opened her mind, catching glimpses and fragments and pieces of scattered puzzles. She saw a beach—dunes along the ocean. A word: Hatteras.
    That, too, confirmed her collection of rumors. Cape Hatteras it was. She only hoped the other scattered intelligence she’d gathered about O’Malley’s fortress would be useful, and that the man named Arturi would be willing to take his people to war. By all accounts, he was a man of peace and seclusion. But if the talk was to be believed, he’d also amassed the largest human settlement in the Changed world.
    It was worth the risk.
    After Tru had freed the final prisoner, she asked, “Can you hunt?”
    He shot her a sidelong glare. “No. But I think you knew that. Why rub my face in it?”
    “So you’ll remember you’re a human being and leave that girl alone.”
    A patronizing smile turned his pretty mouth into something fiercer, the smile of a predator. But with fair skin and the clearest blue eyes in creation, he remained almost unimaginably beautiful. “She doesn’t want me to leave her alone,” he said smoothly. “Haven’t the last twelve years taught you anything?”
    He should’ve patted her on the head after that high-handed dismissal. Instead he stood and stretched. Some might have called him lanky, but they’d be wrong. He was too powerfully muscled. The grace he carried just under the skin was a constant reminder of the lion inside, as was the faint glow of a gold aura that enveloped him like a halo. She knew that was one of her particular gifts—sensing the auras of other magical beings—but it only added