Read Online Blood Challenge by Eileen Wilks - Free Book Online Page B

loud, a crescendo of thought and feeling that held him silent for a long, stunned moment. “But that’s …” He leaned his head into his hand, rubbing his temples with one spread hand. “No. Clearly it isn’t impossible. Unheard of doesn’t mean impossible. He wouldn’t consider this good news, would he?”
    “No. He’s asked that you not tell Lily.”
    Automatically he glanced at her. She was making no pretense of not listening, but her human ears would give her only his side of the conversation. “That’s difficult for me, but understandable. Tell him I’ll delay a day or two, no more. How is he taking it?”
    “Hard.”
    “What about her? Who is she? Does she know yet?”
    “We don’t know who she is. She doesn’t know about the bond. He was in wolf form, marking the boundaries of the wards Friar has set around his property, when he noticed her. He followed without her being aware of him, and confirmed that she was aware of the guards, and avoiding them. She was also aware of the wards.”
    Rule frowned. “Gifted, then. A reporter?”
    “Possibly, but very few of them do that sort of covert investigative work. I’m thinking she’s either a personal enemy of Friar’s, or she’s with a coven or other organization that’s threatened by Friar. If such a group exists, I want to know about it—but that’s a question for another time. What we know is that she’s young, Gifted, about five-seven, rather thin, with a limp. She wears glasses. Her hair is long, curly, of some medium shade.”
    “He didn’t Change and talk to her?”
    “In the shock of the moment when the bond hit, Benedict accidentally tripped the ward. It flashed, attracting the guards. To protect her, he drew them away. He circled back once he’d shaken them off and followed her trail to where her car must have been parked. No blood spoor, no sign of a struggle, no scent of the guards, so he believes she left safely.”
    “He didn’t see her car, then.” Which meant they had no make, model, or license tag.
    “No. But since he refuses to find out who she is,” Isen said dryly, “that doesn’t bother him.”
    “Shit. He has to. He can’t let …” Rule stopped before he gave too much away. The distance restrictions imposed by the bond were unpredictable. Benedict and his new mate might be able to function normally. Or they might pass out at any moment. “That’s foolish in the extreme.”
    “He’s not himself. He wanted to go to his cabin. I refused him.”
    Rule contemplated that for a moment in silence. “You’ve told the Rhej?”
    “I’ll hike up to her place when I get off the phone. If she has anything useful to say, I’ll let you know.”
    “It must mean something.” He couldn’t remember there ever being two Chosens in a single clan, but he supposed it could have happened. But for the same man to be given a Chosen twice … Rule couldn’t make sense of it. There couldn’t be another Lily. It wasn’t possible. “When the unheard of happens, it’s good to know why.”
    “We’ll need to talk about that, but maybe not on Lily’s dime.” A thread of humor lightened Isen’s voice. “She’s glaring at you right now, isn’t she?”
    Rule looked at her. And smiled in spite of her narrowed eyes. “Not glaring, no. Vexed, though, and wishing for my ears.”
    “If you’re going to talk about me on my phone,” Lily said, “put it on speaker.”
    “I’d better go,” Rule said.
    “I expect you had. T’eius ven. ”
    “T’eius ven.” Rule repeated the blessing automatically, bemused. Go in her grace , it meant—the Lady’s grace—or travel in her hunt . It was a common enough phrase, but Isen seldom closed a conversation with it. Perhaps this second Choosing had him thinking of the Lady. She was certainly one of many thoughts coursing through Rule’s mind.
    He handed the phone to Lily. “Well?” she said.
    “I’m asked—not ordered, but asked—not to speak to you about this matter yet. I