Return (Awakened Fate Book 3) Read Online Free

couldn’t scream, and my hands tearing at his might as well have been trying to bend stone.
    By the doorway, I saw Zeke push back to his feet and charge at Earl.
    The huge man seemed to hear him coming. Still gripping my neck, he twisted, his other hand catching Zeke.
    With an inhuman roar, he threw Zeke backward, propelling him into the oak railing lining the stairwell. My heart froze as Zeke clutched at the wood, barely stopping himself from going over the side.
    And then Earl turned back to me. His hand tightened on my neck and heat like a furnace poured from the cracks still spreading down his arm toward me.
    “For my daughter,” he snarled.
    I looked up at him. The pounding in my head was excruciating. Shadows were devouring the world. Nothing I could do would break his hold.
    My hand clutched his and with everything I had, I willed him to give a damn about me. To love me. Care. Anything.
    A shiver like electricity raced through my body, overriding the pressure in my head and the pain.
    Earl stumbled and gasped, releasing me.
    I crumpled to the ground while he staggered backward. Coughing, I pressed my palms to the slats of the hardwood floor, just trying to stop the world from spinning.
    “What…” he stammered. “What’d you…”
    My throat burned with every breath and my stomach roiled. I looked over at him, finding him staring down at me with confusion and fury waging an all-out war on his face.
    “You… you bitch !” A shudder ran through him and he made a choked sound, as though his body rebelled at the word. “I…”
    With a shaking hand, I grabbed at the side of the bed and dragged myself up. The world bucked and my legs wobbled as though neither of them wanted to hold me. Through the open doorway, I could see Zeke pulling himself back upright as well.
    “Get away,” I rasped at Earl, and another shiver tingled through me, as if the aveluria magic affected my words as well.
    The man shuddered again, his feet moving backward though the hatred on his face just increased. Gritting his teeth, he came to a stop and then shook his head, as if struggling to drive something from his mind.
    His foot lurched forward.
    “No,” I tried, every sound hurting. “S-stay back…”
    He retreated a step. A cry escaped him, the noise somewhere between rage and anguish. Desperation twisted his face while his gaze skittered across the room, coming to rest on his daughter’s picture against the mirror.
    A growl rumbled in his chest, growing louder. His body went rigid and his fists clenched. Fissures spread through his skin as though driven by an earthquake.
    I shoved away from the bed. In a stumbling run, I bolted around him toward the door.
    His hand swung through the air, grabbing at me and narrowly missing. With a snarl, he staggered after me.
    Zeke caught me and pulled me with him from the doorway. Shoving me ahead of him, we ran for the stairs.
    Earl was right behind us.
    We reached the landing. My hand clutched the railing as we whipped around the turn.
    Earl snagged Zeke’s shirt. With a roar, he yanked him backward and then drove Zeke through the open doorway of the room he’d shown us hours before.
    Red eyes glowing, he turned to me.
    “No,” I gasped. “No, stay–”
    My back bumped into the wall. My hands plastered to it while I inched to the side, attempting to get away from the gaping opening of the stairwell.
    A grimace of effort contorting his face, Earl reached for me.
    Zeke slammed into him. I ducked as Earl staggered against the wall above me and then twisted to grab Zeke again.
    I lunged and shoved him hard.
    Earl stumbled sideways. His foot hit the top stair and slipped. Lurching backward, he fought for balance and his hands grabbed at the banister.
    He missed.
    The ground shook as he crashed down the stairs.
    And then the house was still.
    My eyes locked on the stairwell. I barely breathed. Trembling, I tugged my gaze to Zeke. He looked like the hand bracing him on the railing was the