Read Online Arrow to the Soul by Lea Griffith - Free Book Online Page A

stew before her and Arrow’s hands clenched as the woman stepped close. She was like a feral cat, all sleek lines and wide eyes. Wild. Beautiful.
    He berated himself for noticing. It fucking pissed him off. Try as he might, Aziveh’s face, her voice, everything that visited him in his dreams was fading under the sudden and virulent obsession with this death-bringer.
    “ Es guiso. Usted necesita comer, hijo ,” Carmelita said, her Spanish lyrical.
    Arrow looked up into the old woman’s face, her gaze iced gold. “I know it’s stew, old woman. And I am not your child,” she bit out.
    Carmelita began to hum and Arrow stood to her feet, outrage in every line of her body. She picked up the knife at the side of the bowl and began to back away slowly. “Tú estabas allí? ”
    Alarm moved through Adam. Her Spanish was flawless, but why was she asking if Carmelita had been there? Been where? He stood, stepping closer to Carmelita in the event Arrow attacked. The assassin vibrated with fury.
    Arrow cocked her head, lowering the butter knife, thumb and forefinger of the opposite hand rubbing against each other. “You hum, old woman. Who are you?”
    “No-nobody,” Carmelita said in broken English. “Am nobody.”
    Arrow stepped closer and Adam tensed. But Carmelita didn’t seem worried.
    “Your name, old woman. I would have it.”
    “Carmelita, hijo .”
    Arrow looked at Adam then, her brow wrinkled, confusion wrinkling her nose. “Where does she come from?”
    “She’s from Mexico,” Bullet said into the tension, her voice quiet, cajoling. “Put the knife down Arrow. She’s not Joseph’s.”
    Arrow didn’t blink. “You are sure, Bullet? She hums.”
    “I am sure. The babies taught her the song. She hums to them now as Juana did before.”
    Between one blink of Adam’s eyes and the next, the apprehension eased from Arrow’s face and shoulders. She sat back down at the table and began to eat in measured bites that spoke of hunger and caution. Wild. Feral .
    Carmelita’s face didn’t show confusion, but pity was there around the lines of her eyes and in the shaking hand she reached toward Arrow. “Do not, old woman. Do not ever touch me,” Arrow growled.
    Carmelita nodded, wiped her hands on her apron, and went back to what she’d been doing before. The tension remained heavy in the air but slightly less so now. Ken missed nothing, cataloging responses, searching for weakness, Adam was sure. He’d been doing the same thing. Bullet sat across from Arrow and Adam wondered where Rand was. Not that it mattered, if anyone were in danger it was he and Ken. Bullet and Arrow individually would be a handful. Together? Probably unstoppable.
    Arrow wiped her mouth and reached for the glass Adam refilled. She drained it and pinned Bullet with her gaze. “The babies are okay?”
    Bullet stared back, unwavering. Adam admired the woman’s courage. “Trident saved them,” Bullet informed her.
    “How many?”
    Adam struggled to hear Arrow now.
    “Ten.” In Bullet’s voice was loss and pain. “The rest remain in Arequipa.”
    “Phina is no more. Joseph killed her for failing to eliminate you. She returned and he broke her. Her mind went first, then her body. She’s in the bone yard now, beside Jesuit. Blade and I buried them with the others.”
    A single tear tracked down Bullet’s face. “Who took their lives?”
    “Minton,” Arrow whispered. Her face went blank, expression wiped clean as she stared at Bullet. “They are safe now. We do what we have to do to survive, Bullet. Sometimes the only recourse left is revenge.”
    “We can only kill them once, Arrow. It won’t be enough to avenge the ones they’ve taken.”
    “But it will prevent him from taking more.” Arrow nodded as if agreeing with herself or coming to some internal decision. Her nostrils flared and she finally unclenched her left hand. Adam took a deep breath. Her pain affected him in ways he didn’t want to consider.
    “Trident needs