Dark Warrior Untamed Read Online Free

First thing tomorrow, he would start on his growing to-do list—beginning withthe puzzle of Piper Ryan.
    Lawrence Harcourt paced the room. How dare Greyhill Danby hang up on him! And when he’d called the Talion back, all he’d gotten was voice mail. He knew Grey had just arrived in Seattle, but he could have at least provided a brief update on the situation.
    He’d give the man a few days to report back. After that, he’d start the plan in motion himself. The thought of treason didn’t sit well with him, but someone had to take a stand before that woman became too firmly entrenched as Grand Dame.
    “Father? Is something wrong?”
    Lawrence schooled his features before turning to face his daughter. “Not at all, Adele. A minor setback in a business dealing. Nothing for you to worry about.”
    “If you say so,” she replied with a smile.
    She resembled her mother so much. He couldn’t believe that his daughter was now older than her late mother had been when he’d married her. Sophisticated for her age, Adele had made them both proud. Though she wore jeans and T-shirts to classes, as all the young people did these days, she always honored his request that she dress for dinner.
    After pouring himself a drink, Harcourt sat on the sofa and patted the space beside him. “Please come tell me about your day while we wait for dinner.”
    She sat in one of chairs that faced the sofa instead, which surprised him. It was rare for Adele to defy him, even in such a small way. Yet there was nothing in herexpression to suggest she was unhappy with him, so he let it go. He spent so much time trying to outmaneuver his competitors that he sometimes forgot not everyone always had an ulterior motive.
    “How are your classes at University going?” he asked when she didn’t immediately speak.
    “Boring,” she answered with a note of amusement in her voice. “You know how much I love higher mathematics—not! Although even that’s better than memorizing all the Kyth bloodlines in my spare time. I really don’t see why I need to know who among us has the same great-great-great-great grandmother.”
    Harcourt gave her the same answer he always did. “Because knowledge is power, especially among our kind. Knowing those connections and loyalties helps predict how someone might react in any given situation.”
    Adele studied her manicure for several seconds. “And why is that important for
me?
It’s not like your business interests only involve other Kyth.”
    “No, but when you’re—” he started to say, but she was already shaking her head. “What?”
    “Father, I know you’re disappointed that Grand Dame Judith chose someone else to succeed her, but what’s done is done. My future lies elsewhere now.”
    Adele’s words were spoken softly but with conviction. She kept her gaze on her lap, probably to keep him from seeing something in her eyes that she didn’t think he’d like. Something like relief.
    He fought down the rush of anger. His daughter had been groomed to ascend to the throne of Grand Dame from the moment her particular gifts had manifestedthemselves.
    Granted, Adele didn’t have exactly the same talents as the late Dame, but his daughter had come closer than anyone else had in a very long time. Her gifts, coupled with her impeccable bloodline, made her the obvious candidate. He’d even taken the family to Seattle every year to visit relatives, always making arrangements to call on the Dame and her Consort.
    All those plans, all that work, and all for nothing. Now an upstart woman with no pedigree and no right had been declared Grand Dame. Not only that, but she’d managed to ensnare Ranulf Thorsen, which only proved the rumors he’d been hearing for years about the Viking’s instability. That didn’t explain Sandor Kearn’s support of the Dame, though.
    Maybe insanity was contagious.
    “Father?”
    He jerked himself back to the present. “I’m sorry, my dear. You’ve been most gracious about