Shadowed (Dark Protectors) Read Online Free Page A

a freak.”
    “That’s not what I asked you.” She’d been coddled and protected by her family since birth and didn’t need any more. “You know.”
    “Yes.” He settled his bulk into the seat. “For your ridiculously superstitious people, a seventh sister of a seventh sister is always a powerful witch. Whenever in history there has been one born, that daughter is the last child born in the family.”
    “Exactly.” Brenna took a deep breath. “Moira is the seventh, and man, is she powerful. I’m the eighth sister of a seventh sister. An unheard-of anomaly.”
    Jase shook his head. “That’s all just so damn stupid.”
    “Maybe.” Hell yes, it was stupid. Except, well, odd things had happened since her birth, including economic decline, new cults, and more powerful atomic reactions. Physics itself had changed with her birth. “My seven older sisters all have red hair and green eyes. I have plain brown hair and weird gray eyes.” She shrugged. “It seems odd, even genetically.”
    “Genetics are genetics, and you know it. Do the protesters want you off the Council of the Coven Nine because you were appointed by Moira?”
    “No.” Brenna sighed. When Moira had beaten another witch for a council seat, she’d elected for Brenna to fill her spot so she could continue being a soldier. “There’s a book about prophecies, one that doesn’t exist as far as you know, that predicted my birth.”
    Jase glanced at her, eyebrows up. “Really?”
    “Yes, and it predicted the convergence of my birth, a comet, and the solstice. The day I was born, on a winter solstice, the Pagurus Comet came too close to the earth and messed with our atmosphere and tides on a molecular level. Witches were all sorts of screwed up for a couple of months. My people were helpless.”
    Jase leaned forward. “This is news.”
    She shrugged. “Yeah. The comet wasn’t close enough for anybody to spot, yet close enough to mess with us.”
    “So?”
    “The comet is coming back the night of the winter solstice, and supposedly will somehow affect me, infusing me with some sort of power from the universe. In four days.” She sighed. “I have a group that thinks I’m charmed and destined to be their queen of weirdoes. The other group wants me off the Nine and hopefully out of Ireland.”
    “So is it the comet or is it the winter solstice that’s supposed to affect you?”
    “It’s the conjunction of the two.” Brenna swept hair away from her face. “The winter solstice is always a time we gain power, but all witches gain it, and it’s just a temporary enhancement. The comet messes with everyone’s skills, and supposedly, I gain power somehow because I’m the only eighth sister born of a seventh witch sister ever, much less last time the comet was here. I’m such a wacko.”
    Jase snorted. “You’re not a wacko. Do you know anything more than the comet will somehow give you power?”
    “Nope. The legend is rather vague and unsettling.”
    “Okay. For now, maybe we should set the two groups up to duke it out,” Jase said.
    “The CRAP group will kill the Warriors.” She bit her lip as she pulled into the parking lot outside the Nine’s aboveground headquarters. “Though it would be funny.”
    Jase uncoiled from the vehicle and reached her door before she could open it. Helping her out, he tucked her hand at his arm. “How dangerous are these goofballs?”
    A silly flutter spread through her abdomen from his touch. “I don’t really know.”
    As they reached the wide glass doors, they opened, and Deb rushed out. She gasped for air. “Just had to warn you.”
    Jase frowned. “About what?”
    Deb held up a hand as she regained her breath. “Everyone is waiting in the large conference room.”
    “Why?” Tingles of dread spread down Brenna’s spine.
    “To negotiate the terms.” Deb tightened her coat and sidled toward her vehicle.
    “What terms?” Brenna asked as Jase grabbed the door before it could close.
    Deb