Read Online Demon's Daughter (Demon Outlaws) by Paula Altenburg - Free Book Online Page A

had gathered the soil from the earth where he and his goddess lover had lain together, and given it to the goddess’s sisters. When they fled the world she had kept the flaming rainbow amulet they had crafted, but it had been intended for use by a goddess, not a mortal. Now it was damaged, and only an immortal could repair and invoke it again.
    But with the help of the amulet, a spawn might be encouraged to try.
    Mamna had thought she would enjoy seeing the Demon Lord condemn his own daughter to death. She wanted the last reminders of the goddess he had once loved wiped from existence. But now she thought the spawn might prove more valuable to her alive. At least for a while.
    Her unsteadiness eased.
    She considered having the Godseeker killed so he could not spread this story of a goddess and her need for an army. One lift of her finger would make it so. But she discarded the idea. Another Godseeker would take his place, and that one might not identify himself to her before irreparable damage was done in Freetown. She might be better off finding out what she could from him.
    “What is your name?” she asked.
    “Fly.”
    Interesting. Many names, particularly in the north, were not given at birth but acquired over time, and based on the perception of the individual by others.
    “Well, Fly. Have you eaten yet today?” she asked.
    At the shake of his head, she gathered the stiff skirt of her gown in one crooked hand and shuffled in the direction of her home, carefully keeping the round heels of her shoes from catching between the planks of the sidewalk.
    “Come with me,” she said over her shoulder, “and I will see to your food and lodgings.”

Chapter Four
     
    “Airie!”
    The single-worded command rang from the rocky edge of the lake, whip-sharp and reproachful.
    Just like that, the flames died and Airie’s vision cleared. She had never heard Desire sound so angry before, and it brought her back to herself faster than anything else could ever do. Water, warm now, swirled around her as she slogged, shamefaced, to shore, her wet skirt dragging heavily behind her.
    The stranger had already climbed the rocks to stand near Desire. Water ran from his clothes and over the tops of his boots. His wet denim trousers outlined his muscled thighs and buttocks when he moved. He said something to Desire that Airie could not quite believe, although she hadn’t misheard. Neither had she mistaken the revulsion in his words.
    The spawn. Is she yours?
    She expected a denial from Desire, some sort of reproof for the insult, but the words did not seem to register with her mother at all. Instead, the elderly priestess could not take her eyes from the lightning bolt amulet around the stranger’s neck.
    Desire stretched out shaking fingers to touch it. “Where did you get this?” she demanded of him.
    He lifted one dark-blond eyebrow, as if puzzled by her reaction. “I found it a long time ago, floating in a container in a spring.”
    He had gentled his voice, much as he had when he’d asked Airie where her ankle hurt. Airie was not fooled by the false gentleness. The man had no scruples whatsoever and she did not like him standing so close to her mother, who was too frail to defend herself.
    And he had called her spawn. Airie would never forgive him for the slur, more so even than that he had tried to drown her. She pulled herself up the rocks to shore, hampered by the wet weight of her skirt.
    “How far did it travel,” Desire was whispering, “and for what purpose?” Airie was uncertain if she spoke to the stranger or herself.
    “He’s a trespasser on the goddesses’ mountain,” Airie interrupted. “He has to leave.”
    Desire tore her gaze away from the amulet to look at Airie. “A small token is all that is required,” she replied with mild reproof. “It’s not necessary to take all of his belongings from him.”
    Airie’s face flamed, and not from temper. Her mother had seen more than the dunking she had