Read Online Deceived by Stephanie Nelson - Free Book Online

headed up to my bedroom.
    “Gwen?” Dorian called from the bottom of the steps. I turned around and stared at his mischievous smirk with annoyance, “What?”
    “Sweet Dreams.” He winked and then walked away.

The next morning a small cardboard box sat on my dresser. I hadn’t noticed it before I showered and dressed. Walking over to inspect it further, I saw a letter next to it. Gwen, do not open until your meeting with Dorian tonight—Holly.
    I crumpled the letter and threw it away, not interested in whatever was in the box. My day was wide open; I wasn’t practicing with Kye anymore and the whole of Moon was training for battle so nothing was open except for a few restaurants. 
    I knocked on Fiona’s door and waited. When she didn’t answer, I headed downstairs and towards the kitchen. Yells and banging brought my attention away from my destination and towards the lower level of the castle. The further I walked down the winding stairway, the louder the sounds echoed.
    When I rounded the corner, groups of witches and warlocks stood in pairs fighting. Blasts of colorful magic shot and bursts of bright light flew around the cavernous room. One witch constructed an invisible shield all around her and when the warlock attacked he was bounced back five feet. Another warlock was in the process of conjuring stakes in rapid succession and flinging them at a padded wall.
    “Gwen!”
    I dragged my eyes away from the fighting to see Fiona running towards me with Ethan in tow. I pasted a fake smile on my face instead of scowling like I wanted to. I didn’t understand how I was the only one who had problems with going to war with the vampires.
    “Are you going to train with us? Ethan needs a partner,” Fiona exclaimed with wide eyes and an even wider smile .
    I eyed Ethan and then Fiona. He didn’t look too thrilled to have me as a sparring partner which made me more interested in doing it.
    “She’s not going to be on the front lines, Fiona. There’s no point in her sparring.” Ethan gave me a dirty look that vanished as soon as Fiona turned to face him.
    “It doesn’t matter you can still practice with her.” Fiona turned back to me and asked, “Will you help out?” I smiled. Ethan didn’t want to fight me, so I couldn’t resist. “Sure.”
    Fiona clapped her hands while Ethan and I walked onto the practic e mats. I rolled up my sleeves and kicked off my high heeled boots. I hadn’t had a lot of practice in fighting with magic, but I had taken a couple classes at the dojo in Flora— mainly to stay in shape.
    “Make your move, Ethan.” I taunted with a sly smile. His eyes squinted with anger, and he conjured a plastic stake with a flat bottom, so that it wouldn’t hurt if he got close enough to use it. Ethan stepped forward faster than I anticipated and knocked me backwards. I landed on my back hard and groaned when the air was jarred from my lungs. He didn’t waste any time and tried to get into a position on top of me, but before he could, I rolled backwards and regained my footing. A smile crept onto his lips as we watched each other. My feet moved in sync with his as we circled each other.
    I conjured a large net that hovered just above him, and when he took a step forward, I let it drop. His hands got tangled in the holes. I took the opportunity to swipe his feet out from underneath him. Ethan fell back with a thud and worked feverishly to untangle himself. Clapping brought my attention away from Ethan. Standing beside Fiona was Dorian Hade. He leaned against the wall and was dressed in jeans, a tight fitting t-shirt, and black boots. Sunglasses hid his eyes from everyone and a smiled crept onto his lips when I scowled at him. It was only ten in the morning and my training with him wasn’t supposed to start until nightfall.
    “What are you doing here?” My voice sounded harsh, even to me. Before Dorian could answer, Ethan attacked. His arms went around my body and held me so tight breathing