Read Online Blood of the Watcher (The Dark Ability Book 4) by D.K. Holmberg - Free Book Online Page A

Venass a reason to abduct Alyse. His father would do anything for her.
    Still, he didn’t know, and that left a worried knot that grew with every passing moment.
    “You’re silent,” Jessa said.
    “So are you.”
    “I know what you’re thinking, and I don’t think I like it,” she said. Jessa lifted her foot from the water, and a long strand of seaweed clung to it. She shook it off and left it lying across the rock. A gull nearby hopped to the rock and grabbed it, taking to the air and flying off.
    “What exactly am I thinking?”
    “You want to do something.” She jumped from the rock and touched his arm. “I’ve seen you like this before, Rsiran. It was the same way that you looked when Brusus was hurt. The same as when you decided we needed to find the Forgotten. Damn, Rsiran, it’s the same as when you decided to Slide into the palace.” She looked over his shoulder, and he didn’t have to follow the direction of her gaze to know that she looked at the Floating Palace. From here, it would stand out starkly from the rock, and appear as if it hovered, as if the Great Watcher held the palace in his hand, holding the Elvraeth above them.
    “I…” He hesitated. Jessa was right. He not only wanted to do something, but he needed to do something. “If they’re willing to take Alyse—”
    “You worry what will happen if they come for one of us.”
    “They already have,” he said. “Both the Forgotten and Venass.”
    “Josun wasn’t with the Forgotten. From what Inna told you, they didn’t sanction what he did.”
    “You’re making excuses for them. They were plenty willing to attack me—”
    “Evaelyn didn’t seem too pleased about that, either.”
    Rsiran sighed. “What would happen if I hadn’t been able to find you when Josun took you?”
    Jessa squeezed his arm and smiled. “I always knew that you would,” she said.
    He remembered his terror all too well. Finding her hadn’t been guaranteed. “And the next time?” he asked. “Now that Inna knows how I feel about you, what happens the next time? Or the time after that? We always have to be on watch.”
    “There’s no way to avoid that. And it’s no different from what we’ve done in Lower Town for as long as I’ve been here. You find a way, Rsiran. That’s how it is. There are those with power, and then there’s us.” She shrugged. “With Brusus, we’ve always managed to stay safe, or safe enough.” She kicked at the foam, sending it splashing. “And now we’ve got you. You’re added safety.”
    There had to be a way to find real safety. There had to be a way for him to find a home where he didn’t always feel like he was in danger of losing it. The smithy was safe enough now, but it wouldn’t always be that way.
    With what he’d seen in the forest, he knew it couldn’t. Having his Slides influenced was bad enough, but he thought that heartstone could keep them protected. Having someone able to follow his Sliding, even with heartstone, meant that they would never have real peace. There would always be the concern that he’d have to watch behind him, fearful that someone would be tracking him. With the Forgotten, and the gifts that the Elvraeth possessed, he would never be able to learn enough to counter them, regardless of what Haern thought to teach him.
    “They need to fear us,” he said softly.
    Jessa glanced over at him, and laughed. “Fear us? What are we but a few to their many? They have nothing to fear from us. No, Rsiran, I think we make all the preparations that we can, and settle in.”
    “Settle in for what? For this war that is coming? What does that get us, but chased? Constantly harassed by others where we don’t even know what they intend. How many more of us will need to be in danger before we stop settling?” he asked.
    Jessa cupped a hand around her charm and made her way across the rocks, jumping from rock to rock until she reached a small point that stretched away from the shore. Rsiran Slid