Canes of Divergence Read Online Free

away from him, down by the riverbank. He wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten there so quickly.
    Sighing, his thoughts traveling in even more directions than they had been when he’d arrived, he turned to walk back to his truck. Halfway there, just before heading into the trees that would obscure his view, he glanced back, half tempted to chase the man down and demand more answers from him, but when he looked, Alvin was gone. Zander couldn’t see him anywhere.
    Startled, he turned all the way around, looking up and down the riverbank. Nothing. Weird. There hadn’t been time for Alvin to leave. He started to walk back down to where they’d been talking, his eyes scanning the entire area.
    That’s when he saw it. If not for the small movement, he would never have noticed the man. Way up the slope that led to the highway above, and quite a distance downriver, there was a man, just sitting there, right next to a boulder.
    It definitely wasn’t Alvin – he was too far away for one thing, and for another, this man had the blackest hair he’d ever seen; cropped close to his head, it looked nearly midnight blue. And he was staring right at Zander.
    Even at this distance, he knew that the man had seen him, too – but the stranger didn’t seem to care. If anything, his posture indicated boredom. He didn’t look away, he just continued to watch. Zander was reminded of a hawk, a thought that sent a shudder rippling down from his shoulders to his toes.
    Though the spring day was growing warmer, Zander snapped his jacket closed around him as he turned back and headed toward his truck.

~ 2 ~
Samuel
    Rosewood Castle, Eirentheos
     
    T HE KNOCK ON the door was so soft that at first Quinn wasn’t sure she’d actually heard it, but William’s head turned at the sound, too. The baby in his arms sighed contentedly; William had just finished changing him and wrapping him up in a clean blanket.
    “Do you want me to answer it?” he asked. “I think whoever it is knocked that quietly because they don’t want to disturb us if we want to be left alone.”
    “Go ahead,” she s aid, glancing toward the window at the bright sunlight pouring in through the small crack William had opened a little while ago when the baby had woken them. “They’ve been patient for long enough, I think.”
    “You’re not too tired for company?”
    She shook her head. “Three hours of sleep at a stretch is probably as good as it’s going to get for a while. Might as well get used to it. Besides, I’m a little hungry.”
    “Good.” He smiled, leaning down to nestle the baby in her arms and kissing her hair before going out to the sitting room to answer the door.
    Nathaniel appeared in the bedroom doorway behind William. “Are you sure it’s okay? If it’s not, I’ll leave this here and go.” He nodded at the tray in his hands, loaded down with bowls of hot grain cereal, sweet rolls, fruit, and glasses of juice.
    “Oh , come in, Nathaniel. We have something we wanted to tell you anyway.”
    The answering grin on her uncle’s face made her glad he hadn’t waited any longer.
    William took the tray from him, and Nathaniel approached her. “How are you feeling?”
    “Great, actually. I’m not even as tired as I thought I would be.”
    He smiled again, gazing down now at the baby. “May I?”
    Nodding, she tucked the edge of the blanket back over a tiny arm before handing her son to him. Her uncle had come to check on her and the baby last night after William and the midwife delivered him, but he hadn’t held him. Nobody had yet, besides her and William.
    “Oh,” Nathaniel breathed. “He’s perfect. He has William’s hair, but otherwise … he looks just like you, Quinn.” Cradling the baby with one arm, he gently brushed his finger across the little forehead. “This is exactly what you looked like, the first time I held you.”
    Warmth filled her chest as Nathaniel held her son so tenderly. Her uncle wasn’t always expressive, and