Read Online Another Kind Of Dead by Kelly Meding - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kelly Meding
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was embarrassed by being alive. “Handydandy healing powers, plus a little help from some friends. If it makes you feel any better, the fire nearly did kill me.”
She grunted.
“Boss?” Felix asked. His right hand had inched beneath the hem of his sweatshirt, probably close to a sheathed knife or holstered gun. He looked past me, right at Kismet, waiting for orders.
I held my breath. Kismet had wanted me neutralizedbecause I had posed a serious threat to the established order of the Triads. While I no longer had the same goals as a week ago, her opinion of me might not have changed. And Kismet knew how to hold a grudge.
“Please,” Amalie said. “There are more urgent matters at hand.”
Felix relaxed his stance, hand going back to his hip. Empty.
Good
. Giving Amalie my undivided attention, I asked, “What’s going on that concerns me so much?”
“Something valuable has gone missing,” she said.
“Gone missing?”
“Stolen.”
Alarm bells clanged in my head, telling me I really didn’t want to know the answer to my next question. “What’s been stolen?”
“The crystal in which we sealed the Tainted One.”
Wyatt made a soft choking sound. I couldn’t tear my attention off Amalie, too mesmerized by what I saw in her face—fear. Never in my life had I thought to see a frightened sprite. They could manipulate so much power because of their direct ties to the Break. It was the reason sprites, and no other race, held the most sway over the Fey Council, and why we needed to keep them as our allies.
But more than that, my ears had filled with a dull roar, and even above the fear I saw in her, I didn’t believe what I’d just heard. Heart jackhammering, I asked, “Say that again?”
She didn’t. Instead, she started in on a story. “After your initial entrapment, we devised a method to more permanently seal the Tainted One’s essence into a crystal. When the spell was cast, we sought a safe place for it elsewhere. We gave it to our brethren in the forest west of here, an expanse of mountains few humans everhike into. They could cloak the Tainted’s draw. I believed it was safe there.”
I snorted, red fury creeping into the corners of my vision. “Why the hell did you take it out of First Break?”
“The power of the Tainted affects not only humans, Evangeline, but many of my kind as well. Having its evil so near was … unsettling. I feared its effects on our well-being. One does not allow disease to remain in one’s orchard to infect all around it.”
“So you let someone steal it?” I seethed, in no mood to understand her reasons. Only one thing was crystal clear to me. “The fucking Tainted is loose?”
She shook her head, red ringlets flying. “No, I do not believe it is. Not yet. The person who stole the crystal would need to have knowledge of our magic and the spell used to encase the Tainted within the crystal. Few outside my people can manage such a feat.”
My stomach flipped. “That doesn’t make me feel better, dammit.” We’d sacrificed so much to contain the Tainted the first time and nearly lost. I’d seen the entity take over the body of an elf, growing to horrifying and grotesque proportions, becoming a black-skinned creature of nightmares.
I’ll put my wife into you, girl
, it had said.
I look forward to getting to know her again
.
I swallowed hard, pressed my lips together, determined not to be sick. Wyatt moved into my line of sight. He grasped my shoulders and squeezed. I stared at his throat, unwilling to meet his gaze.
“Stay here, Evy,” he whispered.
“I’m fine,” I ground out, anything but. Leaning sideways far enough to see past his shoulder, I reaffixed my glare on Amalie. “What happened to seeking out other elves who could send the damned thing back across the Break?”
“We have tried and been unsuccessful,” she replied. “Itold you once that very few elves still walk this world. They are difficult to find at the best of
She grunted.
“Boss?” Felix asked. His right hand had inched beneath the hem of his sweatshirt, probably close to a sheathed knife or holstered gun. He looked past me, right at Kismet, waiting for orders.
I held my breath. Kismet had wanted me neutralizedbecause I had posed a serious threat to the established order of the Triads. While I no longer had the same goals as a week ago, her opinion of me might not have changed. And Kismet knew how to hold a grudge.
“Please,” Amalie said. “There are more urgent matters at hand.”
Felix relaxed his stance, hand going back to his hip. Empty.
Good
. Giving Amalie my undivided attention, I asked, “What’s going on that concerns me so much?”
“Something valuable has gone missing,” she said.
“Gone missing?”
“Stolen.”
Alarm bells clanged in my head, telling me I really didn’t want to know the answer to my next question. “What’s been stolen?”
“The crystal in which we sealed the Tainted One.”
Wyatt made a soft choking sound. I couldn’t tear my attention off Amalie, too mesmerized by what I saw in her face—fear. Never in my life had I thought to see a frightened sprite. They could manipulate so much power because of their direct ties to the Break. It was the reason sprites, and no other race, held the most sway over the Fey Council, and why we needed to keep them as our allies.
But more than that, my ears had filled with a dull roar, and even above the fear I saw in her, I didn’t believe what I’d just heard. Heart jackhammering, I asked, “Say that again?”
She didn’t. Instead, she started in on a story. “After your initial entrapment, we devised a method to more permanently seal the Tainted One’s essence into a crystal. When the spell was cast, we sought a safe place for it elsewhere. We gave it to our brethren in the forest west of here, an expanse of mountains few humans everhike into. They could cloak the Tainted’s draw. I believed it was safe there.”
I snorted, red fury creeping into the corners of my vision. “Why the hell did you take it out of First Break?”
“The power of the Tainted affects not only humans, Evangeline, but many of my kind as well. Having its evil so near was … unsettling. I feared its effects on our well-being. One does not allow disease to remain in one’s orchard to infect all around it.”
“So you let someone steal it?” I seethed, in no mood to understand her reasons. Only one thing was crystal clear to me. “The fucking Tainted is loose?”
She shook her head, red ringlets flying. “No, I do not believe it is. Not yet. The person who stole the crystal would need to have knowledge of our magic and the spell used to encase the Tainted within the crystal. Few outside my people can manage such a feat.”
My stomach flipped. “That doesn’t make me feel better, dammit.” We’d sacrificed so much to contain the Tainted the first time and nearly lost. I’d seen the entity take over the body of an elf, growing to horrifying and grotesque proportions, becoming a black-skinned creature of nightmares.
I’ll put my wife into you, girl
, it had said.
I look forward to getting to know her again
.
I swallowed hard, pressed my lips together, determined not to be sick. Wyatt moved into my line of sight. He grasped my shoulders and squeezed. I stared at his throat, unwilling to meet his gaze.
“Stay here, Evy,” he whispered.
“I’m fine,” I ground out, anything but. Leaning sideways far enough to see past his shoulder, I reaffixed my glare on Amalie. “What happened to seeking out other elves who could send the damned thing back across the Break?”
“We have tried and been unsuccessful,” she replied. “Itold you once that very few elves still walk this world. They are difficult to find at the best of
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