Read Online Cameo and the Highwayman (Trilogy of Shadows Book 2) by Dawn McCullough-White - Free Book Online Page A

wound from being shot in the Graveyard of Yetta. The length of her body had many dings and marks from various scraps she had been in over the years, but the majority of her wounds had been inflicted by Clovis Gail DePell....
    Her eyes lingered on his signature; it was carved into her torso.
    She lowered her head sadly, and she saw little bald patch on her head from when Haffef had thrown her against a wall and nearly killed her.
    Cameo tossed the gown over the mirror and hurriedly dressed in her black leather. She had kissed Opal once; now she wondered what she’d been thinking. She was an undead; it could go no further than that—ever. If he saw what she was… how like a monster she truly was, he would turn from her in disgust.
    She took deliberate gulps from the flask as she remembered: After she staggered back to life, she ran into Gail. She was weak and confused from her near-death experience, and Gail held her captive for days. He cut her, and the cut healed, leaving a bloated scar within hours. This must’ve caused him a great deal of amusement because he covered most of her body with lengthwise scars. One day when she was dangling from her chains, she felt them break, and the next thing she knew she was lying on the canal path near Wick’s tower. Someone found her and brought her inside. Wick’s tower was a home to her for years, until she met Black Opal.
    She remembered the wind in her hair as her Master lifted her from Gail’s camp to Lockenwood. Somehow she’d forgotten that detail, but now it came back to her in vivid detail. The wind, the smell of pine and a summer night, fresh with rain… balmy… and the scent of decaying flowers....
    These were horrors that had haunted her decades ago, yet now she realized that every drop of whiskey hadn’t quite put them to rest. She slumped down on the edge of her bed and tried to relax; outside it started to snow.
    * * * * *
    There was a knock at the window in Kyrian’s suite. A rather dingy individual was holding onto one side of the large pane looking perturbed. For a moment the lad had no clue as to who it could be, and then he noticed the expensive blouse sticking out from his collar.
    “Opal?” he asked as he unlocked the window, and the dandy leapt into the room with a flourish.
    “Well, finally!”
    “What? I mean… it’s midday, and I thought you’d be with Cameo by now.”
    “Rescue the dear lady dressed like this?” He held up the filthy coat, then flung it over a chair. “That wouldn’t make much of an entrance now would it?”
    “But it’s afternoon. You have to get to the palace before sundown.”
    Opal dismissed him with a gesture, then rang for a maid.
    Kyrian waddled toward him still wearing a blanket around his waist, “You did get a horse?”
    “Of course.” He removed the second pair of trousers and flung them over the coat.
    A knock came at the door. It turned out to be that same little maid that Opal had spoken to before, and this time she was a bit more distressed about the dandy’s appearance. He wasn’t wearing any makeup and he’d left his hair a mess. It suddenly dawned on him to turn and put on his eye patch. Embarrassed, he looked back at her, “As you can see, I am in need of a bath.”
    She lowered her eyes as she shut the door with a curt, “Of course, sir.”
    “A bath?! You haven’t got time for that.”
    Opal raised an eyebrow at the young man. “There’s always time for proper hygiene, but I suspect a sentiment like that is wasted on lads such as yourself.”
    Kyrian sighed, “Look, I just don’t want to see you killed. I’m telling you there’s a vampire with her… and some other creature, but I’m not sure what it is. I don’t understand why you seem to be more willing to face that vampire than the palace soldiers.”
    Opal attempted to brush the knots from his hair. “Oh, certainly. Just take on the entire Belfour army.”
    “It’s not going to be the entire army.”
    “It might as well be.