Extraits

Aria folded her arms over her chest; her crystalline blue eyes were narrowed upon her brother. She was wearing a pair of lightweight, beige pants and a thin green shirt like the kind he'd often seen her sporting in the woods. Her dark auburn hair hung in a braid over her shoulder to the middle of her chest. The bow that had been her constant companion in the woods was slung over her back. She may be a queen now but she would never shake her forest heritage and hoydenish ways.

"Aria?" Jack asked in disbelief.

Her eyes slid to his as she glowered at him. "Well it's certainly not my ghost."

Hannah released a soft noise when Jack rose from the table. Her eyes flitted away when he turned toward her. He hadn't thought it was possible but the color that crept into her cheeks made her even more appealing. There were few times in his life that he'd been enchanted by something, but he was beginning to feel a little bewitched by this woman before him.

"Just ring the bell if you need something," she blurted.

As she hurried up the stairs Jack couldn't help but wonder if something would include herself.

"Enough!" A booming voice reverberated through the room with enough force and authority to freeze everyone in place, including Calvin. Hannah glanced around rapidly as she sought the source of the voice, but it wasn't until she spotted movement at the top of the stairs that her gaze was drawn to the man striding down the steps. Despite the awfulness of this whole situation, she couldn't stop her mouth from dropping as the vampire William had been with last night stepped off the last step and purposefully strode toward them.

There had been an aura of power about him last night, but now it seemed to radiate from him like moonbeams on a cloudless night. Even shirtless and barefoot she suspected that he could take down almost every vampire in this room. The rays of the sun spilling through the door played over his hard chest and sculpted abs, his steel gray eyes pinned Calvin to the spot. Even though he stepped out of the light and into the shadows as he closed in on Calvin, she was able to see the flecks of blue speckled throughout his gray eyes.

His hair, still tussled from sleep, stood out in spikes about his face. It was a look that may have made other men appear boyish, but the expression on his face was anything but boyish as his gaze fell on Calvin's bruising grip upon her arm. His upper lip curled into a sneer as a ring of fire encircled his eyes.

It was the red gleam in his eyes that finally forced her mouth closed as a dull heat suffused her face. It was silly of her, especially right now, but she couldn't shake the pleased feeling that trickled through her at the realization that he didn't like Calvin touching her. Her gaze darted away from his bare chest, but despite her best attempts not to look, her eyes were inexorably drawn back to him.

She'd grown up in this tavern, she was used to how wild and riotous men could be. She wasn't used to seeing such well-built ones, half naked, with their loose fitting pants hanging low on their slender waists, but then she'd been entirely captivated by him even when he'd been fully clothed.

Jack turned as a woman emerged from the kitchen. He'd spotted her amongst the melee and was fairly certain she was the one who had dumped the pot of water on them all. He'd only caught sight of her briefly before, but now he found his eyes riveted to her as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen with her shoulders thrust back, and her round chin jutting out. Her hands were folded before her, but though she was trying to appear demure, there was fire in her jade green eyes.

"Ah Hannah," Calvin purred as he hurried toward her.

Jack bristled as something flickered across her face; he sensed her intense dislike of the man approaching her. He was astounded to find his upper lip curling into a snarl as Calvin grasped hold of her hands. The woman's round face remained impassive but her full lips compressed into a flat line. The man lifted her hand and pressed a kiss against the back of it. The action caused unexpected anger to slither hotly through Jack's gut.

"Hannah, what are you doing here?" Calvin asked jovially as he knelt before her.

She had to force her gaze away from the boy to meet Calvin's strange golden eyes. "I uh..." she had to ponder her words for a minute before continuing. "I came to talk to you about the child."

"This?" Calvin said and thrust the boy toward her.

This let out a muffled cry as his shirt cut into his throat and his eyes bulged from his head. "You're hurting him!" Hannah cried before she could stop herself. She reached toward the child but Calvin was already jerking him away again.

"You have such a tender heart Hannah, that's one of the things I like best about you."

She would have thought it was what he disliked most about her. The fact that he'd said those words made her as distrustful as a mouse standing before a snake. It took all she had not to take a step away from him but the last thing she wanted was for him to know that she was scared of him. "He's just a child Calvin."

"He was caught stealing bread from the bakery."

Looking at him Hannah could understand why as the child pleadingly stared at her with eyes made larger by his thin face. "He's starving; he just needs a good meal."

"And you'd be willing to give him one?"

"Of course I would."

"And what of me Hannah?" he said in a tone of voice that made her realize the snake had just cornered the mouse. "If I was to say..." he thoughtfully tapped his finger against his chin but she suspected he already knew what he was going to say. "Lower his sentence to only a night in the stocks, instead of two, would you be willing to spend some time with me?"

She'd rather run naked through the center of town but she wasn't about to voice that little detail. "Yes," she managed to choke out though her body and mind protested the simple word.

"Tomorrow night?"

"I have to work," she blurted before she could think.

"I know you're a hard worker but if I were to stop by I'm sure you could find some time to spend with me."

"So a man named Neil sent you here?"

"Yes," Jericho answered.

"What did he tell you about this David?"

Jericho was growing tired of the subterfuge and games. He'd had enough of that with his father; he wasn't going to play those same games with this man. "He told me that you were the leader of the rebellion."