Read Online Darkness Falls (DA 7) by Keri Arthur - Free Book Online Page A

resurrection?”
    “No chance,” Azriel replied. “They are little more than scattered particles in distant skies.”
    “The priests may be slow in acting,” Quinn noted, voice dry, “but they are very thorough when they do.”
    “Well, good,” Riley said. There was something in her tone that had me picturing her mentally rolling up hersleeves. I tensed, not sure I was entirely ready for the fight ahead. She added, “Now, about Hunter—”
    “No.” I said it quietly but firmly.
    Riley raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, no?”
    “Just that. I don’t want you involved. Not in any damn way. Hunter is my problem, not yours.”
    “You can not —”
    “What I can not do,” I cut in again, “is allow you, Quinn, and Rhoan to step into the middle of a situation that will endanger not only your lives, but those of your children. I won’t risk your future—or theirs—as I risked my mother’s. I couldn’t live with any more guilt like that. I won’t.”
    She reached across the table and caught my hand. Her fingers were warm against mine, but her palms were calloused. It was a reminder that whatever else she was, she was first and foremost a fighter. She’d been through the mill and survived, but that knowledge served only to strengthen my resolve.
    “Your mother’s death was not your fault, Ris—”
    I pulled my hand from hers. “But it was, even if indirectly. She was targeted to create a void in my life. Your death—or Quinn’s, or Rhoan’s—would create the same sort of void, and Hunter is more than aware of that fact.”
    “Hunter may threaten such an action,” Quinn said quietly. “But she would not take such a step; not until she is truly secure in her position and her power. She is close to that, but there are still those who oppose her.”
    My gaze met his. “Harry Stanford?”
    “He is her main adversary, yes.”
    “And Stanford himself?”
    “Cannot and will not defeat her alone.” His gaze held mine for several seconds, as if to add weight to his words. “Do not get involved in vampire politics, Risa. It will only end badly.”
    It probably would, but it wasn’t like I had much of achoice. Like it or not, I was already involved. “Meaning you know what she is?”
    “Yes, but few others do.”
    “Well, I’m obviously one of the ones who missed that particular bulletin,” Riley cut in. “Here I was thinking she was just queen bee of the Directorate and one of the head honchos of the vampire council. Obviously, there’s a whole lot more to her story than that.”
    “She’s a maenad—a worshipper of the Greek god Dionysus, and imbued with his magic and power,” Quinn said, keeping his gaze on mine. “And it is part of the reason I have never challenged her.”
    “The other reason being you now have too much to lose.”
    A smile ghosted his lips, but it failed to lift the concern in his dark eyes. “Yes.”
    “Then you understand my reasons.”
    “Understanding them does not mean I agree with them.”
    “No.” I took another of those noncalming deep breaths. “I appreciate your concern and your desire to help. I really do. But this is my fight—”
    “No one in this family fights alone, Risa.” Riley’s voice was as steely as her gaze. “No one.”
    “But this time, we have no choice. I’m sorry, Aunt Riley, but as amazing as you are, as skilled as you are, you are, in the end, only mortal. Unfortunately, Hunter is not.” I hesitated. “And neither am I.”
    She raised an eyebrow, her expression unconvinced. “Last I heard, you were only half Aedh. That makes you as mortal as everyone else in this pack.”
    “Perhaps when this quest first began that was true,” Azriel said quietly. “But no longer.”
    Riley’s gaze flicked to him. “And how, exactly, did you manage that little—” She hesitated. “It has something to do with you pulling her back to life, hasn’t it?”
    “Yes. I imbued her with my life force.”
    “That does not make her