Fate Forsaken Read Online Free Page A

enough.” Eldon took a step closer to her and held up his hand again. His brilliant blue eyes crinkled around the edges as he focused on her, the cool breeze rushing along his coffee-colored hair and forcing a section to stand on end.
    If he wasn’t so impossibly good-looking, she’d be inclined to slug him for that last comment. “I am, too!” With wishful eyes, she glanced toward the house. “Why do we have to do this outside?”
    “Because my homeowner’s policy doesn’t cover damage caused by magick flames.”
    “I only blasted someone with ley line fire once,” she snapped.
    He’d been unconscious by the time she’d slammed Rhyannon with enough emerald energy to level an office building. Much to his dismay—and hers—she hadn’t been able to duplicate the action since.
    Eldon shook his head, his shaggy hair framing his captivating eyes as he lowered his hand. “If Nick says it was green fire, it was green fire.”
    Nick, on the other hand, had seen exactly what happened that night, green fire and all. As Eldon’s best friend, he’d filled him in on every detail of what he’d witnessed. But regardless of how she’d wound up here, freezing her ass off, she needed to learn how to control her powers. Her life depended on it.
    Preshea and Tim hovered near the living room window, mugs in hand, watching as Eldon tried to school her in magick manipulation. Unsuccessfully.
    “I told you,” Rho said. “It just happened. I didn’t do anything.” Frustration levels at max capacity, she ground her teeth. Despite trying over and over again, she hadn’t lit so much as a spark of magick.
    “Well, you must have done something.” Eldon held up his hand again. As far as magick movers went, he was one of the most talented movers on the planet. His ability to manipulate the ley lines was exactly what had led her to him in the first place. He’d sold her the spells she needed to guard the Kamen she’d been sworn to protect—the one that had disappeared from inside her own coven. They still hadn’t discovered who’d managed to pull off the spell to steal it.
    Rho’s eyes narrowed. The wind whipped against trees, and she tucked an escaped strand of blond hair behind her ear. “So we’re going to stand here all night until I achieve the impossible.”
    “Not impossible. Improbable.”
    She snorted. “Isn’t that the story of my life.”
    Her life had been nothing short of a magick-infused Lifetime television drama, starting when her parents were killed. She’d ended up in the foster system at the age of fourteen and turned vampire after being assaulted and left for dead at the ripe old age of twenty-four. And now, as if she weren’t weird enough, she had some new ability to manipulate magick. Sporadically.
    Rho stomped her foot and rubbed her palms against her jeans then snorted a laugh. Man, she sucked at failing. Life was made up of winners and losers, and she did not accept placement in the latter category. Nothing frustrated her more than being unable to accomplish a goal. Especially such an important one.
    “Hey.” Eldon wrapped his massive arms around her and rested his chin on the top of her head. He was so tall he fit her perfectly and so warm he melted her defenses. “At least you’re a vampire. I’m freezing my cojones off over here and you don’t hear me complaining about it.” His voice was deep and smooth, the tenor enough to set her at ease and light her insides on fire at the same time.
    She laughed as she buried her head in his broad chest and settled her arms around his waist. “That’s only because you get to be in charge.”
    “And don’t you forget it.”
    Squeezing him closer, she breathed in his familiar scent of fresh soap and dark spices. She loved being with him, just like this. Despite every demon in her closet, and in the face of those in their world who would condemn their interracial relationship, he was still here—not leading in front of her or trailing behind,