Read Online Blue Moon Rising (The Patroness) by Natalie Herzer - Free Book Online Page A

wrought iron, spiral staircase and up to the terrace with Kylian hot on my heels. Looking over my shoulder I saw his light blue eyes glowing. His movements were swift and predatory – graceful. I felt more and more like the little rabbit chased by a big, bad wolf. And I knew he felt the same, and that it would trigger his killer instinct. It was thrilling, and a bubble of laughter wanted to rise.
    On the far side of the rooftop stood an old shed, which I used as a training room. I kicked the door open, dim light greeted me. But I was too far gone to care about something redundant as switching on the lights.
    A sandbag dangled in the back of the room, other equipment covered the walls. Nothing mattered. I whirled around to face Kylian.
    We moved in a circle, each of us sizing up the other. Then we lunged at each other, but I ducked at the last moment ramming my shoulder into his stomach, a hard wall of muscle. He grunted. We fought. No weapons, just him and me. We kicked and punched. Block, block, kick. My muscles were warming up and I smiled. This was fun, though I knew he held back because I was a female. His fault. I landed a good punch to his nose, so that blood spurted, and then whipped about, launching a spinning hook kick. B ut in an iron grip he got hold of my ankle. Shit, that was a first. He pulled, throwing me off balance and in a heartbeat I found myself flat on my back, trying to get some oxygen back into my lungs. The wooden floor was hard but cool under me.
    “Gotcha!” he was standing over me, his mouth spread into a toothy grin.
    In the blink of an eye I shot up, back in a crouching position and swept my leg in a wide circle so it collided with Kylian’s ankles. It hurt but he went down like a tree.
    “Me, too,” I replied and slumped back onto the floor.
    We lay there next to each other and smiled.
    “What a nice warm-up.”
    Warm-up, my ass. I could hear him panting.
    He moved into a sitting position but I just stayed there on the cool floor.
    “You’re wounded,” Kylian suddenly barked. A sheen of light blue rolled over his eyes and vanished, his animal side resurfacing for a moment. I sat up on my elbows and saw that my shirt had ridden up, revealing the bandaged scratch on my stomach.
    “Why did you fight with me when you’re wounded?”
    I fell back again a nd sighed, struggling for words. “Because you’ve to understand that I can take more than the usual human. I’ve been fighting all my life – mostly alone. Against vampires and shapeshifters or whatever is ripping u p humans. I go out every night whether I’m wounded or not. I learned to survive. I’m not a weak female to be protected with cotton.” I b raced myself on my elbows again. “And I’m not pack or something, so you aren’t my leader. We’re equals. You’re the pack’s assassin and I’m the Patroness of Paris. This is my city, and we help each other to solve a murder.”
    When he stayed silent as if thinking about what I just said, I laid back again.
    “The rogue?” Kylian asked, his voice gentle, as he leaned forward to push up my shirt a little before softly touching my wound. His fingers, a light brush, made my skin tingle.
    I got up briskly. “Yeah, well. It’s a professional risk.” I tried to be my casual self and to change the subject. “We should get back downstairs. Or they’ll send out the search and rescue team, believing we’ve killed each other.”
    Back outside Kylian stopped dead in his tracks, taking in the flowerbed that was my rooftop. Obviously he’d been too busy chasing me to notice any of it earlier. “Wow, you’ve got yourself an oasis up here.”
    I smiled and looked at all the beautiful plants spreading out at our feet. The air was spicy, from rosemary, basil and chamomile, but also sweet from roses and lavender. Sunflowers and oxeye daisies had their bright faces turned towards the morning sun and in between them, without any sign of order, juicy red tomatoes and chili peppers