Flight (Children of the Sidhe) Read Online Free Page B

felt a twinge of some rare emotion; was it shame? She’d been soaked in darkness recently, and it had left a stain she hadn’t seen to yet.
    “You can feel that?” he asked in a low voice. His eyes pierced into her, like he could see through her.
    Tessa held her palm above his, and turned the question back on him. “Do you feel this? That’s my magic. When you’re ready for lights out, touch the lamp and feel for it. Tell it to turn off. It’s simple.”
    She left him then, frustrated and not knowing what to do with the extra energy such feelings left her with. Normally if she felt this way she’d have a man over for the night, and that would cure her nervous energy. Lovemaking was the surest remedy. But hosting tied her hands on that score. She could go fly for a while. It seemed strange not to invite Nathan, if that was her goal. And she couldn’t take him out in his first bunch of hours here to the wilds of Tir Nan Og. He could hardly stand her appearance. What if they ran into giants, or snakekin? He had no idea what to expect.
    Tessa went back to her desk, but her work didn’t draw her in like it usually did. She decided to give the spell she’d mentioned a try.
    First, she drew water from the well in the courtyard. She placed it in a crystal bowl she kept for ritual purposes. Today she didn’t plan to scry, so she kept her eyes averted slightly from the surface of the water in her ritual bowl. She didn’t want to know what a vision would show her at the moment.
    She focused on the water, on purifying it for human use. Eyes closed, her hands grew warm as the magic built, and she felt the satisfying rightness as all of the components clicked into place and the spell worked.
    Her ward chimed at the precise moment she released the charge she’d gathered into the water. Tessa hissed in annoyance. This batch was ruined. She’d have to try again later, she thought as she went to the door. But no one knocked for a moment, and Tessa got a bad feeling.
    Sure enough, it was Abarta standing outside when Tessa cracked the door to peer out. Tessa grabbed a deep gray cloak and went outside, hoping Nathan hadn’t noticed the chimes. If he came to investigate, it could all be over for him.
    “Back so soon?” she asked Abarta spitefully. “Didn’t we play this little game already?”
    “Do you have news for me?” A smile played around the trickster’s full lips. Abarta definitely brought sex to mind. Right now that just made Tessa angrier. She shouldn’t be attracted to her blackmailer, despite his Sidhe draw. She was Sidhe, too, and around males of her kind all the time.
    She shook all thought of sex out of her brain and focused on the conversation at hand. “No. I don’t have news for you. I met with my brother, and found out they know little more now than they did two days ago. The families of those on your list are apparently taking responsibility for their half-human children. They’re trying to find them before you do.”
    “And none of them have been successful yet?”
    “Not to my knowledge. I told Mikhail to pass a message to Ian, that I’m willing to help if he needs me. That’s about the best I can do to insert myself into the damn investigation in the matter of a day.” Tessa answered quickly and firmly, ignoring the accusation she thought she must be imagining in his tone. Tessa didn’t have to fake her anger. Why she was faking anything at all was beyond her.
    When she’d thought of Nathan coming outside and facing Abarta and his doom, her stomach had dropped. He was a person, not just a half-human. She couldn’t be the cause of his demise.
    As long as Abarta didn’t guess her allegiance, they could both win in this situation. She only hoped that’s how it would turn out.
    “Tessa, you will call me if you have anything to share.” Abarta’s firm tone was belied by the sardonic smile that never seemed to leave his lips. “If not…”
    Tessa straightened her spine and stared him down