Read Online Edge of Moonlight by Stephanie Julian - Free Book Online Page B

keep passersby on the street from seeing into the garden beyond, but up here, Kaine saw the lines of a beautifully maintained courtyard.
    It looked almost magical in the dark and fit the house behind it. The house looked like a tiny castle, made of stone and featuring tiny turrets.
    Kaine wondered if a princess slept in that house, waiting for her prince to come wake her.
    Which was such bullshit.
    Why did all those stupid old fairytales insist that a woman needed a man to save her from the evil witch? Maybe the man needed to be saved from the big bad wolf.
    Vaffanculo , she needed to get over herself. Enough with the self-pitying crap.
    As soon as Sal got back, she’d get the hell out of here.
    John would probably want a piece of her pelt when he woke. He’d be confused, worried for Evie and pissed off. At Kaine.
    And rightly so.
    Behind her, she sensed Sal’s return and turned before dropping into a curtsey for the woman standing by his side.
    No, not a woman. A goddess.
    “Lady of the Singing Heart, greetings.”
    Munthukh, Etruscan Goddess of Health, or Amity as she called herself now, strode over to wrap her arms around Kaine’s shoulders and pulled her in for a hug. “And hello to you, too, Kaine.”
    Startled at the warm embrace, Kaine hugged her back for just a second before remembering that this was a goddess. And she was an assassin.
    When Amity released her, Kaine took a deep breath and forced a smile for the woman standing before her. Unlike some of the other Etruscan goddesses Kaine had met, Amity was not so much beautiful as pretty. Light brown hair the color of polished chestnuts fell in waves past her shoulders and framed a pretty face full of soft features.
    Dressed in a purple sweater set, a denim skirt and matching purple Chuck Taylor high-tops, this goddess drew you in with her bright smile and warm brown eyes.
    Kaine felt comfortable in her presence and the walls she’d built around her heart to keep it from aching started to fracture. Taking a deep breath to catch back a sob, she only just managed to contain it.
    Amity’s smile turned rueful between one heartbeat and the next. “Now, now, it’ll be all right, Kaine. Just give me a few minutes to check out your friends. Sal’s given me the rundown so I have something to go on. Why don’t you just go have a seat and give me some room to work?”
    Nodding, Kaine turned and grabbed the nearest chair, the one at the dining table against the wall by the front window.
    And started to pray.
    * * * * *
    John woke with the realization that he was on the couch in the living room.
    The sky was still dark and moonlight seeped in through the window. Still hours from dawn.
    How had he wound up here on the couch when he’d went to bed with—
    “John.”
    His gaze shot to the woman standing so still against the wall directly in front of him. She had her hands shoved in the pockets of her jeans, her shoulders hunched as if fighting off a cold wind. Or anticipating a blow.
    But her gaze met his straight on.
    “Kaine? When— What’s going on?”
    He sat up, hating the sense that he was missing something vital.
    “Evie’s in trouble, John. She needs help. She had a breakdown when she came home from work.”
    Jumping to his feet, he didn’t stop to think. He pushed open the closed door to Evie’s room and stopped when he saw his sister asleep in her bed and another woman sitting next to her on a chair.
    “Hello, John. I’m Amity. Your sister’s resting peacefully now but we need to talk.” In two steps, he’d crossed to his sister’s side and put himself between Evie and this woman he’d never met. “What the hell did you do to her?” In spite of the consuming fear threatening to drown him, he swore the woman’s smile made his heart ease off its heart attack pace just enough to let him think more clearly.
    “I didn’t do anything to her. But she nearly caused herself irreparable damage last night.”
    Shit, was the woman saying—
    “Oh,