Betrayed: Days of the Rogue Read Online Free Page A

chair, one leg extended as she studied her outrageously
high heels. One penciled brow would be raised as she twirled a pen
between her fingers. “Do I detect more than a passing interest in
the man?”
    “I...” Eve fumbled for an answer.
As a woman, she was attracted to him physically, yet at the same
time they seemed to rub each other the wrong way. Besides, he made
her uneasy. There was something about his eyes and the way he
looked at her as if he could see into her soul. She shivered at the
memory.
    “Listen Eve, if you need a few
pointers—”
    “I don’t, thanks.” She cut the
woman off quickly, not sure she was up to hearing Caro’s advice on
men. “I’ve no intention of getting involved with Rafe McRae and I
don’t need to contact him about an imaginary stalker.”
    “A chainsaw carrying stalker.”
    “Caro!”
    “All right, fine. Have it your way.
Don’t contact the man. Don’t pay any attention to my warnings.”
Caro sounded miffed and Eve could imagine her stalking about the
office, waving her hand theatrically. “But remember, if I drive all
the way to the back of beyond and find you’ve been hacked into
pieces by an escaped murderer, I’m deducting the gas mileage from
your next cheque.”
    “First of all, Grassy Hills isn’t
the back of beyond. It’s only a little bit out of your way since
you’re driving to Edmonton tomorrow anyway. Secondly, there are no
escaped murderers being reported in the news. And thirdly, if I’m
dead, you can keep the cheque.” Eve barely resisted the urge to
stick out her tongue.
    “Famous last words.” Caro said
dourly and then sighed. “I’ll be there around ten o’clock tomorrow
to pick up your latest pieces.”
    “Okay. Why don’t we meet at the
Sunrise Cafe like last time? It will save you a few minutes of
travel time.” And keep you away from my cabin and Rafe, she added
silently.
    “Good. If I’m out of the city for
too long I might start to convert into a country bumpkin.”
    Caro hung up without even saying
goodbye and Eve set the handset down with a sigh. Her agent was a
city girl, born and bred, and couldn’t begin to fathom why anyone
wouldn’t want to live in the middle of a large city. Mind you, Eve
had never thought of herself as a country girl either, but ever
since ‘The Gift’ had struck her full force, she’d found it
increasingly difficult to live in a city surrounded by thousands of
people.
    ‘The Gift.’ That had been her
grandmother’s name for it, but Eve wasn’t so sure that ‘the curse’
wouldn’t have been a better name. The inexplicable empathy she felt
towards total strangers had descended on her last year and her life
hadn’t been the same since.
    It was the Fae in her, her
grandmother had said. As a child, she’d sat at her grandmother’s
feet, listening wide-eyed to stories of a long ago time when her
family had seemed to possess strange powers.
    “The power’s faded from us, child,”
Gran had explained. “It by-passed me and your father, but you’re
one of the lucky ones. I can see it in you.” Her grandmother had
cupped her chin and stared deep into her eyes before smiling
knowingly. “Aye, the gift is with you but what you’ll do with it
remains to be seen.”
    At the age of nine, the words had
been thrilling, and Eve recalled waking each morning hoping that
the gift—whatever it was—would make itself known. But years passed
and nothing exciting or special ever occurred. She’d grown older
and more practical, Gran succumbed to old age, and the stories had
faded from her memory.
    It wasn’t until she’d found a
letter, from her long dead Gran, in the back of a dresser drawer
that she recalled the prediction. Suddenly the vague headaches and
strange ‘daydreams’ she’d recently begun to have all started to
make sense.
    ‘ When the awakening comes on
you, you’ll know. You’ll need to nurture it, refine your skills,
develop control. Learning to shield your mind will be important,