The Unforgiven Read Online Free Page A

will make certain of it.”
    He pressed the translucent skin just above her windpipe. The scent of her fear spiked.
    If that had been the only odor Cade’s nostrils plucked from the air, he would have leaped to Cybele’s defense, and blast the consequences. But it wasn’t. Hard on the heels of her panic came the rushing odor of her desire. So Cade stayed where he was. Cybele had made it clear over and over again: she did not welcome Cade’s interference. Not where Artur was concerned.
    After a moment, Artur gave a humorless laugh. Releasing Cybele, as if the tense interlude had never occurred, he strode back to his drink. “Clan Samyaza will counter Dusek’s advantage,” he said, “We will bring new magic under our control, quickly.”
    “And what of Clan Samyaza’s honor?” Cybele cried. “Are we to toss our self-respect in the trash and become everything we despise? Everything Jonas Walker believes us to be? Taking slaves will taint every one of us. Issue all the threats you want, Artur, but I, for one, would rather go to Oblivion than anchor a slave.” She rounded on Brax. “You stand with him on this? How could you?”
    Brax shifted in his seat. “The way I see it, Cybele, we have two choices. Fight slime with slime, or roll over and show our throats. You might be willing to embrace Oblivion, but I’m not. I agree with Artur. Slave-making is our only option.”
    “And you’ve already found our victim.”
    “Yes,” Brax said. “I have.”
    “How? You haven’t cast a spell all day. You’ve been staring at that computer.”
    Brax drummed his fingers once on the table. “I’ve been hacking police reports on hellfiend activity.”
    “Why on earth . . . ?”
    “Hellfiends sense the presence of Watchers and typically avoid them. They know they can’t possess us. Quite the opposite, they’re more likely to fall under our control or be slain outright. They know confronting Watchers will only bring trouble. Given that fact, it therefore follows that areas with a minimum of hellfiend crime will coincide with areas of Watcher activity. When these regions occur outside the territory of the known Watcher clans, it’s possible the effect is caused by an unaware Watcher, one who’s just entered the transitioning phase.”
    “One who’s recently survived a near-death experience, you mean,” Cybele said.
    “Exactly.” Brax tapped a few keys. “In the past, it’s been difficult to track these patterns using only magic, but now, with computers and the Internet . . . All I have to do is cross-reference the crime-free areas with corresponding local hospital records of patients who’ve experienced a near-death trauma.
    “Once I assembled a list of NDE survivors under thirty years of age, it was easy enough to search school and medical records and check for typical Watcher characteristics: prematurely dead parent, no full siblings, dysfunction in human society, tall stature, left-handedness. In effect, all the common traitscompatible with Watcher genetics.” He shrugged. “The methodology is tedious but simple enough. I didn’t have to use magic at all.”
    “And you’re sure you’ve found a transitioning dormant?” Cade asked.
    Brax nodded. “Ninety-eight point two percent certain.” Cybele’s face lost even more color, if that was possible. “And Artur intends to pimp me out to him. So I can bring him back as a slave for the clan.”
    “No,” Artur said mildly.
    “No? But you said—”
    Artur chuckled. “As it happens, Cybele, your services—excellent as they are—won’t be needed just yet.”
    Cybele flushed. “Then what—”
    “Because the candidate is female.”
    She stared. “Brax has located a female? But Watcher females are so rare! One in five hundred.”
    Brax spread his hands. “Sometimes a half-percent chance comes through.”
    “Who’s going after her?” Cybele demanded. “You, Artur?”
    “No.” Artur smiled. “I thought I’d give her to