Glamour of the God-Touched Read Online Free Page A

them.
    It would feel so good.
    The idea scared him, and through it all, he
understood only one rational thought—he could not let
Arianna catch him.
    He ran harder, crashing through the
nighttime forest.
    Normally, the woods would smell of mildew
and dampness, normally the moon’s reflection would give the leaves
silver edges, but these sensations were muted tonight, colors
dimmed to grays and indigo blackness, odors blunted to blandness.
Garrick tripped, but somehow found himself still running. His lungs
ached. A supple branch sliced his cheek, but the wound did not run
with blood.
    A small tavern loomed ahead, music and
laughter coming from within.
    Arianna’s footsteps drew nearer.
    He dashed into the tavern.
    The door slammed behind him.
    Tallow candles smoldered at each table,
casting thin shadows throughout the room. The handful of patrons
glared at him in sudden silence.
    “Shut up!” he cried. “Stop looking at
me.”
    Garrick threw himself into a dark corner and
breathed heavily. He buried his head in the crook of his arm.
    A serving boy drew near.
    He was beautiful, pure and fresh, his aura
salty.
    For an instant, Garrick’s head cleared, and
he thought he would be able to control his need. For an instant
Garrick thought he would be able to warn the boy away. But instead
he looked up and his terrifying hunger drew a breath.
    The door opened as he reached a thin finger
to the boy’s cheek. Arianna stepped through.
    “Garrick?” she said.
    A spark crackled from his finger.
    The boy cried out.
    Colors blurred.
    Garrick’s hand burned, and an invisible fire
ran up his forearm and shoulder. Energy filled his chest. The smell
of honey and something wild became his entire world. Somewhere he
heard a scream.
    Then it was done.
    And he felt bloated.
    Fresh blood welled from the wound on his
cheek, and a withered lump lay like clotted leaves where the boy
had once stood.
    Townspeople stared at him with slack
faces.
    “Garrick?” Arianna’s voice trembled, the
expression on her face contorted between horror and revulsion. She
turned and ran, leaving the door to rock back and forth in the
empty doorway.
    “Wait,” he said, holding out a pleading
hand. “I didn’t mean…” His thoughts jumbled, but the look on
Arianna’s face had said everything.
    He was an abomination.
    He stood, gaping at the open space she had
left behind, and sensing fear from the gathering even before the
barkeep turned a pitchfork toward him.
    “Demon!” a voice bellowed from behind the
bar.
    More voices filled the tavern room.
    “You don’t understand,” Garrick said. “ I
didn’t mean to do that! ”
    “Kill him, Jeb,” another man called out in a
voice thick with ale.
    Garrick crashed through the door to
disappear back into the forest.
    The moon followed him as he ran.
    The memory of the boy’s freckled face loomed
ahead, the vigor of the boy’s energy pounded inside his chest. He
ran until bile rose in his throat and he had to stop to retch. When
he was finished, Garrick sagged against an elm, panting for breath.
The tree’s bark bit into his shoulder. He felt the entire structure
of the wood, the slow power of leaves drawing sap from its roots,
those same leaves inhaling the damp nighttime breeze and sending
nutrients through the rest of the organism.
    He put his head in his hands.
    What had he done?
    At least his hunger was gone. That much was
good. But now energy flowed in his veins like a river. His senses
felt overloaded. Blood pounded in his temples.
    It was frightening.
    You have taken , the unearthly voice
rang inside his head. Now you must give .
    Who was this voice?
    This was all happening because of this
thing, this creature, or … Anger boiled inside him. He clenched a
fist and pounded the meat of his hand against the tree.
    “Why?” he yelled at the voice, searching the
clearing for the source. “Why are you doing this?”
    There was no reply.
    This was his fault, though. That’s what
Alistair would