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

shone invitingly. And that was only half of it. The whole garden was crossed by small, sometimes overgrown flagstone paths that all led to a terrace in the middle of the rooftop. An oasis, that was quite true.
    “I like the flowers. Gardening relaxes me, but with my two jobs I’ve hardly enough time to take care of them. Viviane gives me a hand as often as possible, though I don’t like seeing her crouching in the mud. She’s young inside, but there are days when her old wounds get to her. Of course, now that Pauline has moved in I don’t have to worry about either anymore. Besides, the garden will help Pauline calm down her faery nature, so a life in the city will be bearable for her.”
    We had started to walk through this green sea, enjoying the light and the sun and the scents. Kylian stopped, and I caught a waft of man and healthy sweat. I liked being with him, feeling his warmth beside me, but at the same time he rattled me. Then he smiled and those damn dimples showed up.
    “Now I get why Pauline said destiny brought you two together. You complete one another. And the ointments you told me about? You said you make them yourself.”
    I nodded. “Not only are these plants beautiful and smell nice but they also can be very useful, for example in wound healing. Very helpful in my line of work, and with a little magic it works even better. Well, and as a witch I love making my own potions, balms and whatever I need.”
    We went back to the winding staircase. Kylian leaned a little towards me and asked softly, “Did I hurt you earlier?”
    My lips curved into a smile. “Don’t flatter yourself,” I replied and headed down the stairs. At the bottom I made a beeline for my room to get some clothes before I went into the bathroom. I stripped, pulled out the pin holding my hair up and stepped into the shower. The water ran warm over my skin and I thought of Kylian. I really needed to get my hormones under control. It had been – what? – over a year now. Oh, God. No wonder I couldn’t keep my calm around a splendid specimen like him. I leaned my forehead against the cool, tiled wall. Should I give in? Maybe it wouldn’t be that bad, that man had a reputation after all. And not a bad one. Besides, he would be back to the States after the situation here was taken care of anyway, so what could it hurt. I tried to ignore the whisper coming from my heart.
    A few minutes later and still not wiser, I got out of the shower stall, brushed my teeth and pulled on my clothes. I went for faded jeans and a white peasant blouse since both were light and comfortable, strapped on my hip bag and Cutter’s harness and hid my other usual weapons.
    At noon I was in my office. Kylian was with me. He’d insisted and after I’d noticed that not even Viviane nor Pauline were on my side, defending girl power, I kind of didn’t have a choice.
    So now this handsome sonovabitch was prowling my office, inspecting everything.
    “You know, I thought about our traitors.” He turned and came to sit on the edge of my desk.
    Like earlier in the garden, I noticed his scent. He wore cologne, but the very subtle and not overwhelming kind given his sensitive shapeshifter nose. He, too, had gone for faded jeans today and a burgundy shirt that showed off his muscled chest and would probably rip if he flexed a bit. A sight for the gods – who obviously really liked to kick my ass.
    I leaned back in my chair, to get a little away from him. “And?”
    “We know that there are at least four persons involved, two humans and two unknown creatures. But I bet the one pulling the strings doesn’t like getting his hands dirty, they never do. So he needs men and magical creatures to come to him, so…”
    “He has to win them over somehow,” I finished for him while my mind was already racing on, trying to think this through. “Some kind of recruiting. For that he would need a stage, to make propaganda, to lure them in.” I had an idea and grabbed the