bryn n sinjin 02.5 - blood lust Read online

  When Luce was barely two feet from me, I heard Rachel inhale deeply as she unleashed what looked like a glowing ball of blue light. Luce’s attention was centered on me, so he was taken by surprise as soon as the energy of her magic hit him. My body slackened, which meant his hold over me was failing. I leapt to my feet in an instant and, realizing the weight of the situation, did the only thing I could.

  I lunged for Rachel, caught her around the waist, and dematerialized. We flashed from inside the bedroom down to the dirt road outside. Once my feet touched the ground, I dematerialized again, flying through the air in the direction of the chain-link fence from whence I came. Although I do not fly, I can cover wide expanses of land in just a few seconds, somewhat like taking enormous leaps. When we reached the fence, I released Rachel.

  “You must drop the wards so we can make it over the fence,” I announced.

  She took a deep breath as my comment played across her face. I shook my head. “You do not have time to make another decision! The choice has already been made for you! Stay here and you will die.”

  She nodded briefly before facing the fence again. Then she held her hands out before her and closed her eyes, moving her lips with silent words. When she reopened her eyes again, she turned to face me and simply nodded. Gripping her hand and hoping there were not any secondary wards in place, we materialized over the fence.

  We landed on the other side of the fence without further incident. I glanced around and found we were ensconced in the midst of the forest, covered by the canopy of tree branches overhead. When I glanced at Rachel, the pallor of her face was quite white and her expression showed surprise.

  “You failed,” she said, sounding breathless. I eyed her in question as she continued. “Your mission,” she clarified. “You failed to do what you came to do.”

  It was true. Jeffers was still alive, and so was Luce. But while I had not made myself any promises to kill Luce, I had certainly vowed to watch Jack Jeffers take his last breath.

  “Failure is nothing more than a minor setback, my dear,” I replied with an encouraging smile. I started forward, eager to put as much distance between Luce and us as possible. “And minor setbacks rarely concern me.”

  Although I could not finish my mission on this particular occasion, I vowed to return and see justice prevail where it was due. Until then, I had to ensure that Rachel was safe and returned to Betta. I believed the little traitor would make a fine addition to Kinloch Kirk and my people. Of course, she would need to remain under temporary observation, but my instincts told me she was honest and trustworthy. And my gut feelings are never wrong.

  Upon my return, my next quarry of business I would attend to was that of the Lady Bryn and her … peculiar ability to spontaneously combust voluntarily.

  However, that would have to wait for another day.

  H. P. Mallory is the author of the Jolie Wilkins series as well as the Dulcie O’Neil series.

  She began her writing career as a self-published author and after reaching a tremendous amount of success, decided to become a traditionally published author and hasn’t looked back since.

  H. P. Mallory lives in Southern California with her son and her giant dog, where she is at work on her next book.

  If you are interested in receiving emails when she releases new books, please sign up for her email distribution list by visiting her website and clicking the “mailing list” tab:

  www.hpmallory.com

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  THE JOLIE WILKINS SERIES:

  Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble

  Toil and Trouble

  Be Witched (Novella)

  Witchful Thinking

  The Witch Is Back

  Something Witchy This Way Comes

  THE DULCIE O’NEIL SERIES:

  To Kill A Warlock

  A Tale Of Two Goblins

  Great Hexpectations

  Wuthering Frights

  Malice In Wonderland

  For Whom The Spell Tolls

  Eleven Snipers Sniping (Novella)

  A Midsummer Night’s Scream

  THE LILY HARPER SERIES:

  Better Off Dead

  The Underground City

  To Hell And Back

  Persephone

  The Bladesmith (Novella)

  THE PEYTON CLARK SERIES:

  Ghouls Rush In

  Once Haunted, Twice Shy

  Big Easy Murder (Novella)

  THE BRYN AND SINJIN SERIES:

  Sinjin

  The Scent

  Blood Lust (Novella)

  Table of Contents

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT