Read Online Blood of an Ancient by Rinda Elliott - Free Book Online Page A

picked and knocked, surprised when a sleepy, half-dressed Dooby answered the door. He wore black-silk pajama pants.
    “Is Blythe in there with you?”
    “Why would she be?”
    “I don’t know. I thought you two were…were…” I swallowed back the words fuck buddies because I wasn’t so sure they still were—not after seeing that fireman. Two months before, they’d been all over each other right after the Dweller battle.
    “Blythe and I are no longer doing it.”
    Blunt. Weird. Not unusual for this man, but still. I frowned at him.
    “I left her watching a movie with Castor in the gathering room. They looked all cozy and plastered to each other in the corner of that sectional.”
    “Why are you in her room?”
    “It’s not hers, it’s mine.”
    I narrowed my eyes. “I don’t remember inviting you to stay here.”
    “The book is here, it needs to be kept safe and I remember the story about the ghoul. If that creature knew about it, others do too. Your boyfriend has an excellent magic-detection system set up here. It’s perfect for the book and it’s perfect for me.”
    I rubbed my eyes, too tired to argue with that. “I’m going to find Blythe. While we’re gone, see if you can figure out how we can bind the elemental to keep the portal open.”
    His face went a little pale. “That would be dangerous.”
    “If you can come up with another way for me to get back out when I have Nikolos, all the better.”
    He nodded, started to say something else, then just reached over to pluck a silky, red robe off a peg on the wall. He walked to the dresser with a swing to his step that made me want to laugh, but I didn’t. Laughing would hurt his feelings and I’d learned a very important thing about the Doob. He was a lot of flash and ego on the outside. Inside, he was still a little boy who grew up with parents who were terrified of him. Before they’d even taken him home from the hospital after his birth, Dooby had raised zombies and, unfortunately, they’d been friends of his father—who worked in a circus.
    Clown zombies who terrorized the hospital. The thought freaked my shit out enough to know his parents had probably never recovered from actually witnessing it.  
    I took in all his hair products and makeup on the dresser and just accepted that he’d moved in to stay. At least until the book was translated.
    Dooby watched me in the mirror as he brushed his hair. “You okay, Beri?”
    I shook off my thoughts, grimacing at how damned tired I was. “Yeah, sorry,” I muttered before heading toward the gathering room.
    Castor, sprawled on the couch with his long legs draped over the back, had pulled a cushion over his face. Light snores came from underneath. That feeling of warmth and love I always felt around him flowed through me to chase out the remnants of horror still clinging like parasites. There was something to him, something that made a person want to just be in the same room with him. I wasn’t the only one who felt it. Every single person in this house sought out reasons to be with Castor. I leaned over and shook him gently awake.
    He pushed off the cushion and blinked sleepily at me while shoving hair off his face. “What’s wrong?”
    “Where’s Blythe?”
    He frowned, sat up and put his hands on my arms. His thumb rubbed softly over my elbow. “No, I mean what’s wrong with you ? You have this look. It’s painful. Hell, I can even feel it on your skin.”
    I closed my eyes as a wave of sorrow swamped me, only to be followed by the warmth of my brother’s love.
    Castor tugged me onto the couch and wrapped both arms around me, forcing me to snuggle back into him. “You need a hug.”
    I stiffened. Having a brother was still so new. While I was already crazy about him, I wasn’t used to how touchy-feely he was. Just like Nikolos. At his name, I thought of what I’d just seen. And felt. Squeezing my eyes shut tight, I took a moment, just a moment, to soak up some of my brother’s