Read Online All For One [Nuworld 3] by Lorie O'Claire - Free Book Online

over in her bed and groaned from the soreness in her shoulder blades. A
    half moon provided enough light for her to see around her dark bedroom. She lay
    listening to the silence of the house. She’d fallen asleep to the sounds of her parents
    arguing at the other end of the house. Ana knew she was the topic of their debate and
    that her father believed her mama knew something she wasn’t sharing. Could her
     
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    Lorie O’Clare
     
    Mama know where she’d gone that day? Crator wouldn’t have told her, would he? She
    couldn’t believe she was doing something so terrible that Crator would interfere.
     
    Or at least she hadn’t done anything terrible so far.
     
    Mirak had guard duty tonight. She’d overheard Geeves telling Papa the duty roster
    for the evening while enduring the solitude of her bedroom. Mirak was Ana’s age and
    they’d attended school together. He’d teased her repeatedly for being a girl trying to act
    like a boy. And he was not much bigger than she was. She’d made up her mind. Her
    plan would work. And she owed Mirak for winters of merciless teasing. Tonight Mirak
    would be her escape route out of her yard.
     
    She had two hours before sunrise. That would have to be enough time. Cali had
    come to her after her brother left her room last night. Apparently, her papa decided her
    punishment could include visitors. She’d complained of pain from her beating and
    consented to pain medication so she could sleep. She didn’t take the capsule Cali gave
    her, but dropped it down the sink when Cali wasn’t looking.
     
    Her plan worked. Cali assumed Ana would sleep like a baby and didn’t bother to
    stay in her room that night. She bet Cali feared for her job after Ana’s successful
    disappearance and would be determined to keep an eye on her. So, all Ana could do
    was to leave while everyone slept and return before they woke up.
     
    And that’s where Mirak came into the picture. He was on guard duty in the
    backyard, and he was alone. Gilroy often guarded the backyard but they’d recently
    done a rotation of the guards and now her brother’s friend patrolled the side yard. It
    was a pity, Mirak wasn’t half the man to look at that Gilroy was.
     
    She slipped out her bedroom window, conveniently left open earlier that evening.
    There was no question that the guards knew she’d disappeared earlier and she guessed
    they’d pay a little more attention to her this evening. But everyone had been asleep for
    hours. Certainly, the guards would be more relaxed by now.
     
    She could see Mirak standing over by the shed, his back to her. There were no other
    guards in sight but she knew there was one in either side yard. And with Gilroy being
    one of the guards, she wouldn’t stand a chance if her movement alerted him. Sparring
    with Andru’s friend might be fun, but not under these circumstances. She would be
    humiliated if her brother’s friend caught her. She’d have to be quick. And, she’d have to
    be quiet.
     
    The boy turned as she came up behind him.
     
    “Ana.” His eyebrows rose in surprise.
     
    Without hesitation, she brought both her hands up and slammed them down on the
    side of Mirak’s neck.
     
    “Sorry, Mirak,” she whispered as she dragged the unconscious soldier around the
    side of the shed. Pulling him inside the shed proved to be a trick. She could only open
    the door so far before it would squeak. This was something she and Andru discovered
    several winters ago. She had to pull Mirak by his hands through the small opening into
    a dark shed where the gliders were kept.
     
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    All For One
     
    In all honesty, Ana had never seen a naked man before, unless she counted her
    brother. Mirak wasn’t exactly a man but it was hard to keep her eyes from roaming as
    she slowly pulled his clothes off then slipped out of hers and put his on. They were
    definitely too big but she managed to secure the pants with a rope belt she’d been
    wearing.
     
    “I