Toil and Trouble Read Online Free

honorable.”
    “Your honor will get us killed.”
    I grabbed hold of the top of my leather wing-backed chair, attempting to pull myself to more of a seated position. While I might have felt better than I had after defending myself against Dougal, I still felt like I’d taken one too many valium. Rand turned toward me and when it appeared Odran would assist me, Rand threw him a glare. He then bent down and hoisted me into his arms, moving me into an upright position.
    “Are you okay?” he asked, his soft brown eyes enthralling.
    I could only nod as I watched him reach for a small wooden stool in the corner of the room. He lifted it and walked back toward me, raising my legs as he positioned the stool underneath them.
    “Better?” he asked.
    “Yes, thanks,” I replied meekly as I watched the warmth in his eyes dissolve once they re-encountered Sinjin.
    “Stoop to Bella’s level? Is that what you would have us do, Sinjin?” he insisted.
    Sinjin shrugged and approached Rand and me, pausing just above me as he leaned against the side of my chair. He smelled of some foreign scent—clean and captivating.
    “I do not care for it any more than you do but it is realistic.”
    “What time is it?” Christa asked and yawned, stretching all the while. When no one responded she shrugged and began searching for split ends.
    “Do we even know where Bella and her army are?” I asked in a quiet voice.
    Sinjin squatted down until his face was inches from mine. He didn’t say anything but he didn’t need to; his grin spoke volumes.
    I just shook my head in resignation.
    “What does he mean?” Odran insisted. Rand also turned to face me curiously.
    “It means he’s tasted her blood and now he can track her.”
    “Ugh,” Christa said as she found a split end and tried to pluck it. I wasn’t sure if the “ugh” referred to her hair or the fact that Sinjin and Bella had done the dirty deed. I was pretty grossed out by the latter.
    “Bella is no fool. She would know Sinjin could track her,” Rand said, ever the perceptive warlock.
    “Aye, boot she wouldna know when we would coome for ‘er,” Odran added.
    Nigel said nothing but just stood behind Odran. He was as silent and unmoving as a guard outside Buckingham Palace.
    “Why don’t we just assassinate her?” I asked and justified it with, “then we wouldn’t have to worry about any of this.”
    Sinjin chuckled while Rand shook his head. “That is not our way. We would be excommunicated from our society,” Rand said and threw me a disgruntled expression.
    “Jeez Louise,” Christa said, apparently losing interest in her hair. “Witches have so many rules.”
    I had to agree with that. Bella had already demonstrated that she was less than willing to comply with the very rules Rand relied on, so what did that mean for us?
    “You are so concerned with propriety,” Sinjin said, obviously unimpressed.
    “If we killed her, Ryder would just take her place,” I said. Ryder was a vampire and one of Bella’s stooges. If I detested Bella, I hated Ryder even more. He’d been the one to kidnap me, all the while pretending to be on our side. And that hadn’t been his last or least offense. He’d also nearly drained me to death. Only Sinjin had defended me against Ryder. Like I said, I was quickly becoming a fan of Sinjin.
    “As far as I’m concerned, we fight with honor or we do not fight at all,” Rand said.
    Odran, Sinjin and I all turned to observe Rand. Christa was too busy with her hair to realize the weight of his statement.
    “What does that mean?” I asked.
    “Yes, Randall, what does that mean?” Sinjin queried, his fingers plying the top of my chair. I could feel his cold breath as it assaulted my neck and a wash of excitement coursed through me, much though I tried to suppress it.
    “It means I will not fight unless we do so morally and honorably. I will not stoop to her level.”
    “And if she attacks us?” Sinjin countered.
    “We will be ready