Read Online Aspen by Skye Knizley - Free Book Online

there. He is under arrest, as are you if you get in my way.”
    The leader cocked his head. “You are not what I expected, Ravenel Tempeste. I had heard that you valued justice—”
    “Killing a woman walking home from work is not justice, it’s murder. Final warning, move or be arrested,” Raven grated.
    The leader shrugged. “I cannot let you take one of my men and subject them to human laws. Do not force us to defend him.”
    His hand moved toward the weapon at his waistband and Raven covered his nose with the barrel of her pistol. “I don’t think you want to do that. Put your hands on your head and be still. The rest of you, kneel and put your hands on your heads.”
    The leader paused, then nodded once at his men. “ Ti ya’ amame! Do as she says.”
    Raven waited until they were all on their knees then stepped back to dial Levac and call in the cavalry. In that split second the Gallowglass were up and had pistols in hand. By the way they were standing, Raven knew they were more than capable of using them.
    The leader smiled, a cocksure gesture that Raven wanted to punch. “Surrender, Lady Tempeste, and tell us where Aspen-Fyre is. You need not die today.”
    Raven held her pistol, but lowered her phone. “What do you want with Aspen?”
    The leader shook his head. “That is our concern, not yours. Where can I find her?”
    Raven felt her anger and blood boiling but kept her face neutral. “Aspen is my friend and familiar. Anything about her is my concern. Even if I knew where she was, I wouldn’t tell you. If you lower your weapons and surrender I promise your jail cell will have the hardest beds in the city.”
    The leader shook his head sadly. “Your reputation precedes you, Lady Tempeste, but I think you are braver than you are capable. I did not wish to do this, but…”
    He nodded at his men and Raven blinked. Her monster roared in her head and she moved, dodging the first shots unleashed by the Gallowglass and raising her own weapon. She shot two through the forehead and rolled to relative safety behind the very tree that had been sheltering them from the sun. The corpses smoked and exploded into sparks that fell around her like glimmering snowflakes, an effect that made Raven’s skin crawl. Death shouldn’t be pretty.
    Bullets tore at the tree and at Raven’s jacket, making her wince in pain, but she held her ground. The Automag barked in response and another of the Gallowglass fell, clutching at the wound in his chest before fading away on the wind.
    “There’s only two of you left,” Raven called. “You and Bailey. Lay down your weapons and surrender.”
    “Impressive, Lady Tempeste. More impressive than I expected, in fact,” he said.
    There was a strange noise, like bubblegum popping, and the leader appeared behind her. Raven spun in surprise and his hand closed around her wrist with more strength than she’d have thought such a lithe figure could hold.
    “But you cannot defeat us. Tell me where Aspen-Fyre is and I will spare you,” he snapped.
    Raven winced in pain and dropped her pistol as the bones in her wrist cracked and splintered beneath his grip.
    “That’s some grip you’ve got there. I bet you go through a lot of stress balls, huh?”
    The leader’s lip curled in disgust and he leaned close enough Raven could see the spinach stuck in his teeth. “Your bravado is wearing, dhampyr. Where. Is. Aspen-Fyre!”
    He punctuated each word with a squeeze to her injured wrist and Raven knew the bones were pulped beyond uselessness. But she’d faced tougher things than a bunch of thugs in matching jackets. She rammed her forehead into his face as hard as she could, then raised her knee into his groin with enough force to pulp his genitals and make him vomit in pain. He let go and fell to his knees, both hands clamped to his crotch. She kicked him in the face for good measure then picked up her weapon and held it in a left-handed grip. She was turning to look for Bailey when