Warrior Rising Read Online Free Page A

fate, no matter what it might be. She possessed bravery of a different sort, a bravery that should be respected.
    The petite redhead held her head high. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she was wearing the same clothes from last night. She had not rested, that much was clear. “I have been working on recasting the sanctuary spell. I can do it, I know I can, but it will take time. A few days, at least.” She took a deep breath. “I want to live, I will not lie about that, but if my death is what’s best…”
    “No,” Sorin said, and with that he placed himself in front of her. As they had last night, Rurik and Jimmy did the same.
    It was Rurik who put forth, “If we murder this girl to make our battle easier, if we sacrifice her, then we do not deserve to be called Warriors.”
    Many agreed with him. Indikaiya caught a glimpse of the witch, as Jimmy swayed to the side. The human was tired, so it was only natural that he would be weakened. That movement revealed that the witch was relieved. She was willing to sacrifice her life, but she wanted to live, as she had said.
    Sorin turned, looked down, and whispered to the girl. She scampered off, back to her chamber to work on the spell that would save countless humans.
    And if she could not recast that spell?
    The attitudes of many in this room would change, if that were the case. How many could be sacrificed in order to spare the life of one witch?
    As talk turned to plans of strategy and of leaving this place, Sorin walked across the room to join Luca, Chloe, and their vampire friends. She had not known vampires were capable of friendship. She looked to Luca. Or of love.
    That knowledge was a complication she could do without.
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    Nevada was so tired, she was literally seeing double. Four books on the worktable instead of two. Two piles of small, multi-colored stones instead of one. She gripped the edge of the table to ground herself.
    It had been almost two days since she’d murdered countless innocent people. The ancient spell she’d broken had once given humans a safe haven, a place to hide even on the darkest night. The sanctuary spell. The protection at the doorway of a human’s home. She was the one who’d broken it, who made it fall. She was to blame…
    She wasn’t surprised when the familiar knock sounded at the door of her room, which in the past few years had been prison, workshop, and — on occasion — home. Rurik’s knock was both gentle and strong. Like him.
    “Come in,” she said softly, knowing he would hear her even if she whispered.
    Rurik opened the door and stepped into her room. For a large man, he was eerily silent in his movements. A Warrior thing, she imagined. Some of the Warriors had adopted modern clothing since coming into this world, but not Rurik. His plain shirt looked like it was made of coarsely woven dark linen. The pants were much the same. And the sword that hung at his side was massive and extremely sharp.
    “What do you want?” she asked.
    “I wanted to see you. That is all.” His accent — Russian or Russian-like, since she didn’t know exactly where, or when, he had come from — was both harsh and harmonious. “I will be outside your door, should you need anything. Anything at all.”
    Unlike most of the men Nevada had known in her lifetime, Rurik was simple and straightforward. No games, no riddles. He liked her; he had made that clear from the moment he’d laid eyes on her. She barely knew him, and yet he’d stood up to his own in order to protect her.
    “I should’ve been stronger,” she said. “I should’ve told Sorin to go fuck himself when he kidnapped me and put me to work on breaking the spell. I should’ve stood up to him and given him the finger. Yeah, he would’ve killed me, probably. Likely, anyway. Okay, he definitely would’ve killed me.” Six foot plus, no telling how old though he’d always look thirty-ish, all muscle and fangs, long blond hair like some kind of Viking, he