Runaway Mortal Read Online Free Page A

it again easily. Okay, so I had no options left; I’d just have to take a huge, stupid chance on this.
    “Fine.” I nodded. “I’ll do it.”
    With a smile, Valeska stood up and hobbled towards a cupboard in the back where she rummaged around for a few seconds. She returned carrying a knife and a small, wooden bowl with weird symbols carved on the outside.
    I eyed her cautiously, and my hand shot to my wakizashi as she resumed her seat and placed the items on the table. “What’s that for?”
    She took the knife and used the pointed end to pierce her wrinkly flesh. A small drop of blood fell into the bowl. “This is how a blood promise is made.” She handed the knife to me and pushed the bowl across the table.
    So maybe the “blood” part should’ve been a dead giveaway, but I hadn’t taken the meaning quite so literally. I stared at the tiny drop of blood in the bowl, hesitating as every impulse in my body told me not to do it. There was something dark about what she was asking me to do.
    Reluctantly, I pushed the knife into my finger and winced as it stung my skin. I reached for the bowl and let it catch a small drop of my blood.
    Valeska swiftly took the bowl away and placed it under the table before pulling out a deck of large cards from the folds of her silks.
    “Are we going to play strip poker?” I asked, trying to lighten the darkness of the situation that had transpired seconds ago.
    Ignoring my question, she held out the cards to me. “Shuffle these and think of what you wish to know, and then hand them back to me.”
    Wiping away the blood that was still dripping from my finger, I took the cards from her and shuffled them, trying to focus on why I was here.
    I want to know who killed Avangelista Melkane.
    Valeska’s eyes sparked as though she had heard me, and a shiver ran down my spine as I handed the cards back to her.
    “Now-” Valeska’s eyes went wide and the cards dropped from her hands and fell onto the table in an arc. A single card lay face up, which seemed weird to me, but before I could study it properly, Valeska clutched my hand in a vice grip.
    “What’s wrong?” The words died on my lips as my eyes shot to her face.
    The whites of Valeska’s eyes were visible as her head rolled around precariously on her neck at weird angles, like she was having a seizure. She was shaking so hard that my entire body was shaking along with her.
    “Valeska!” Panic seized a hold of me as I tried to free my hand from hers. I wanted to do something to help her, but I was so frozen with fear that nothing was coming to mind.
    “ Neither Hell nor Heaven born .” Valeska’s voice came out in a low chant, her eyes still unseeing.
    She didn’t seem to be here anymore. Was she having a vision? Should I call 911? Did 911 ha ndle witch related emergencies?
    Cast out because of Hallowed Scorn
    Hidden on the earthly plain
    Where sky meets earth, and earth meets pain
    When more than one is magnified             
    The ancient power cannot be denied
    Wandering minds, metal, and flame             
    But broken the power won’t stay the same
    When truth and lies break all the ties
    Only will the Mortal Blade choose a new ally
    Then without warning, Valeska’s body went limp and she slumped to the side, her hand falling from mine.
     

Chapter Three
     
    I wasn’t going to lie; for a few seconds I really thought Valeska was dead.
    Overdramatic, I know, but after the strange rhyme and the violent fit she’d just had I wasn’t sure what to think.
    Thankfully, she twitched, filling me with relief at the discovery that she was still alive.
    “Valeska?” I asked uncertainly, leaning forward in my seat—well, cushion—to study her.
    Her unnerving blue eyes flew open and she sat up, seeming irritated. “What is it?”
    My eyes grew wide as I gaped at her. “Uh, you just had a seizure. Are you okay?”
    Valeska’s stared at me like I was on crack. “A seizure? I don’t know what