Evermine: Daughters of Askara, Book 2 Read Online Free

deal. It’s between her and the new colony leader to pick a person for the job. Someone they can both trust, and someone with the best interest of the slaves…” she corrected herself with a wide smile, “… ex -slaves, in mind.”
    “That’s going to be tough.” I’d almost said impossible. “Ex-slaves won’t take well to one of their ex-masters calling the shots, but I doubt Nesvia would give the position to a freeman.”
    “I agree. Clayton and I had the same thought earlier.” She took a sip from her can. “It’s too bad there’s no middle ground. Someone who’s lived on both sides and knows the score.” Her eyes, the same color as mine, the one feature we had in common, bored into me.
    A shiver coasted up my spine. “You sound like you have someone in mind.”
    “I kind of do, and she’d be perfect for the job.” Her fingernails tapped against Formica.
    “I think the person you have in mind is happy right where she is.”
    “Is she?” Her voice lowered. “I sometimes wonder.”
    “Look, things haven’t worked out like I’d planned.” I shoved away my half-eaten third helping. “But I’m good. Things are just different without you around, so I have to get used to being alone all the time.” I winced. Crap . I hadn’t meant to slather on the guilt. “I’ll get over it.”
    “What about Harper?” she asked softly. “Is he not helping with the loneliness?”
    “He has his own issues.” I rubbed a finger in the crease between my eyebrows. “And since he’s not dealing with his, I doubt he’ll be any use dealing with mine.” I struggled to pinpoint the problem. “It’s like he’s…disconnected. There’s no past, no pain. You saw him this morning. Leaking blood like a faucet and smiling.” I cursed. “I still can’t believe he went back.”
    “You know how he is.” Her voice went flat. “You’ve known his secrets longer than me.”
    I flinched, but I deserved that. I’d known his secrets years before Maddie learned them. Harper hadn’t wanted her to know he was living with us in the summer castle at Rihos while gathering information for the legion to aid their cause. She hadn’t even known about Clayton.
    I’d kept the knowledge Harper had a brother from her for her safety, at least in the beginning. Later, I had done it for spite, because she might not have known about Clayton, but he knew about her. He could have saved her, spared her so much pain, and saved Harper too.
    And for a while, yeah, I hated his excuses and holier-than-thou attitude. I understood why he hadn’t acted. It was for the same reasons Maddie had given earlier. This colony depended on him to protect them. The legion depended on him to guide them. Even though Clayton had been infatuated with her for years, he resisted acting on his desires, for them. Then things changed.
    Maddie and I became part of his colony, and life on this side of the divide was everything I’d dreamed it would be for her. It was everything I never hoped to have for myself. All of it was because Clayton never lost sight of the bigger picture. He had sacrificed so much for so long.
    By the time he finally met Maddie face-to-face, he’d become a one-male, Maddie-wooing machine. I snickered at the memory. He’d waited for her for so many years, their courtship was sad to watch. She’d really done us all a favor by claiming him and putting us out of his misery.
    “Hello? Earth to Emma? What are you thinking about that’s got you smiling like that?”
    Smothering my grin, I went for serious. “I was just considering my pick for consul.”
    Doubt weighted her expression. “Who did you have in mind?”
    “Oh, um…” The problem with lying to one’s sister was being called on it. The door’s bell tinkled, but not in time to save me from answering. “Dillon?”
    She twisted in her seat. “Sure, and my name’s Mud.”
    Glancing toward the door, I spotted Clayton as he strolled in and headed for Maddie.
    “Mud, huh?”