Undying Hope Read Online Free

reeling from fear and the danger surrounding her and the strange conversation between the two men. “Please, let me go.” She hated her voice when it came out in a whimper.
    The warrior’s eyes flashed, and one of his powerful arms snaked out, his hand clamping over Kyros’s throat. “Let her go. We can end this tonight.”
    Everything inside of her roiled against the stark words of her savior ending anything tonight. The rational part of her knew this was insane, but the resignation of his tone twisted at her heart. She renewed her struggle to make Kyros let her go. She needed to get to the warrior. Something deep inside of her reached out to him, but Kyros’s grip tightened. She cried out as pain shot through her wrist.
    The warrior moved. His body was a symphony of motion. Every muscle worked in harmony during the deadly attack. He sprang forward. With one swift motion, he pulled Haven away before colliding with Kyros. The bruising hands left her trembling body, and she stumbled behind the warrior and toward Bastian.
    Kyros went flying backward. The window shattered. He skidded across the salt-crusted concrete sidewalk and out into the snow-covered street. He slowly stood while laughing. “A new pawn is added to our game.”
    A violent swirl of air opened directly behind Kyros. Red and black lightning crackled around the vortex. Kyros gave an eloquent bow. “I look forward to it, Cadeyrn.” He stepped back, allowing the twist of angry wind to swallow him.
    “Bastian!” Haven turned from the warrior and took one wobbling step toward the boy. A strong arm looped around her before she fell on her face. She shook her head, but that only produced a throbbing. “He’s hurt.”
    “He’ll heal in his sleep,” the warrior said. “You need to be still so that I may look at your wounds.”
    She twisted in his hold and then shoved her arms up between them. If her sensibilities were going to remain intact after what she’d just witnessed, he shouldn’t be that close. “Who are you?”
    “Sit and I will tell you,” he said. His tone was final and commanding.
    She ground her teeth together, but she sat. “Who are you?”
    A half smile curved the corner of a sensual mouth. He bowed low. “I am Quinn Donovan. Might I have the pleasure of your name?”
    “No, you’re not,” she snapped at him. Her head was hurting, Bastian was groaning, and she’d just fallen into a nightmare. “Who are you?”
    His glacier blue eyes went fierce. “All right. Then who am I?”
    “A figment of my imagination. That man tried to butcher me, and I’m in a hospital somewhere.” She took several controlled breaths to calm herself and give herself a chance to listen to her intuition. It kept her away from the Black Rose for the last three years. She curled her lip. That feeling of wanting to crawl into his lap and make his world right grew stronger. “If you are Quinn Donovan. I need your help.”
    “Anything you need, all you have to do is ask,” he said.
    He had some odd angle he was playing at. He’d just—well—she wasn’t exactly sure what that just was. She could hear a hum around him, but full words weren’t forming well enough for her to get a handle on them. Quinn appeared to be part of the epic battle her grandfather warned her about, but if her intuition was to be trusted, she wanted to be on Quinn’s side. “I need a warm place for me and Bastian to stay. We need food, and he needs medical attention.” She paused as she tried to figure out what was going on behind that mask of indifference on his face. “And I need someone to tell me what he is so I can help him with the change he’s going through.”
    “Done, done, done, and done,” he said with a gentle voice. “He is an orphaned Undying male child. You are not equipped to handle the type of care and training he will need to survive to full maturity.”
    “What does that mean?” she snapped as her mama bear hackles raised. “You are not going to take