Read Online Heart and Soul by Shiloh Walker - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Shiloh Walker
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death.
ELI’S ENCLAVE WAS NESTLED ON TOP OF A HIGH RIDGE in West Virginia, about a half hour from Huntington. It was quiet; Eli made sure it stayed that way. He took his responsibilities as Master very seriously.
He owned the mountain and much of the land around it. Vamps and shifters tended to get very territorial. Even having somebody living a couple of miles away was too close.
His territory, however, expanded beyond the land he owned. A Hunter who forged a territory established a bond with the land. Through that bond, the Hunter was aware of the land—and the people who lived on it.
Agnes studied Eli as he finished talking with his lieutenant. Jonathan was an Inherent, a shape-shifter that could shift at will. He was a bloody strong one; Agnes had only met a few that were his equal in all her years on the Council.
Right now, both of the men looked grim, and when Eli finished, Jonathan turned and headed for the door without a word. Agnes watched as Jonathan slowed for a moment by the redhead standing near the door. He reached up, cupping her cheek in his hand and arching her face toward his.
There was a poignancy and a passion in the kiss that made Agnes feel even more melancholy. Envy stirred in her heart, and at the same time, happiness. Hunters lived a hard life; it was only right that they should spend their years with a mate they loved.
Not everyone found that mate, though; Jonathan and his pretty wife, Lori, were some of the lucky ones. Too many of them still spent their lives alone.
Jonathan pulled away slowly, and as he walked away, Lori murmured quietly, “Be safe, Jonnie.”
“Something nasty is in the air,” Agnes murmured, looking at Eli with an arched brow.
“Aye, something nasty,” the blond vampire said as he lowered his long body back into the chair behind his desk. “Been drawing closer for a few days. Like smoke, faint at first, and hard to track.”
“You’ve located it?”
He nodded, turning to gaze out the window with a brooding stare. His skin was pale, his eyes the color of old golden coins, and the hair framing his lean face was every shade of gold and blond imaginable. A very attractive man; Agnes wouldn’t have thought somebody with his fair looks could make such a sexy brooder.
He’d proven her wrong, time and time again. Eli excelled at brooding.
“Stop worrying, lad,” she murmured. “Jonathan can take care of himself.”
A slow smile curved his lips up. “Aye. I know that. It’s not so much worry for him, just . . . worry. She feels young.”
“She?”
Eli sighed, shoving a hand through his hair and climbing to his feet. He started to prowl the room as he spoke. “A girl. Jonathan is going after a girl. She feels . . . wrong.”
“Hmmm.” Agnes didn’t like the sound of that. “A child?”
He glanced toward her. “I don’t know. But she’s young. And dark.”
Agnes lifted one shoulder. “Darkness isn’t always the same thing as evil, Eli. You know that as well as I do.”
Wearily, he sighed. “Yes. I do know that. And yet this girl feels—vile.”
The door swung open, and Malachi came striding in. Agnes smiled at him, lifting a hand. He caught it and bent low, pressing a kiss to it. “Nessa, love.”
“Are you being a good boy, Mal?” Agnes asked as she glanced toward the dark woman who stood behind him. “You aren’t driving Leandra mad, are you?”
With a scowl, Malachi muttered, “Indeed—that one will drive me mad.”
Eli laughed dryly. “Hard job, that. You’re quite insane already.”
Malachi didn’t respond as he moved to join Eli at the window. Long red hair was caught in a queue at the nape of his neck, and muscles stretched the black cotton of the long-sleeved T-shirt he wore. The front of the T-shirt was emblazoned with huge red letters: Bite Me .
Mal had told Agnes earlier that Jonathan’s adopted daughter had given him the shirt. “I rather like it,” he’d said.
Right now, though, the humor was gone
ELI’S ENCLAVE WAS NESTLED ON TOP OF A HIGH RIDGE in West Virginia, about a half hour from Huntington. It was quiet; Eli made sure it stayed that way. He took his responsibilities as Master very seriously.
He owned the mountain and much of the land around it. Vamps and shifters tended to get very territorial. Even having somebody living a couple of miles away was too close.
His territory, however, expanded beyond the land he owned. A Hunter who forged a territory established a bond with the land. Through that bond, the Hunter was aware of the land—and the people who lived on it.
Agnes studied Eli as he finished talking with his lieutenant. Jonathan was an Inherent, a shape-shifter that could shift at will. He was a bloody strong one; Agnes had only met a few that were his equal in all her years on the Council.
Right now, both of the men looked grim, and when Eli finished, Jonathan turned and headed for the door without a word. Agnes watched as Jonathan slowed for a moment by the redhead standing near the door. He reached up, cupping her cheek in his hand and arching her face toward his.
There was a poignancy and a passion in the kiss that made Agnes feel even more melancholy. Envy stirred in her heart, and at the same time, happiness. Hunters lived a hard life; it was only right that they should spend their years with a mate they loved.
Not everyone found that mate, though; Jonathan and his pretty wife, Lori, were some of the lucky ones. Too many of them still spent their lives alone.
Jonathan pulled away slowly, and as he walked away, Lori murmured quietly, “Be safe, Jonnie.”
“Something nasty is in the air,” Agnes murmured, looking at Eli with an arched brow.
“Aye, something nasty,” the blond vampire said as he lowered his long body back into the chair behind his desk. “Been drawing closer for a few days. Like smoke, faint at first, and hard to track.”
“You’ve located it?”
He nodded, turning to gaze out the window with a brooding stare. His skin was pale, his eyes the color of old golden coins, and the hair framing his lean face was every shade of gold and blond imaginable. A very attractive man; Agnes wouldn’t have thought somebody with his fair looks could make such a sexy brooder.
He’d proven her wrong, time and time again. Eli excelled at brooding.
“Stop worrying, lad,” she murmured. “Jonathan can take care of himself.”
A slow smile curved his lips up. “Aye. I know that. It’s not so much worry for him, just . . . worry. She feels young.”
“She?”
Eli sighed, shoving a hand through his hair and climbing to his feet. He started to prowl the room as he spoke. “A girl. Jonathan is going after a girl. She feels . . . wrong.”
“Hmmm.” Agnes didn’t like the sound of that. “A child?”
He glanced toward her. “I don’t know. But she’s young. And dark.”
Agnes lifted one shoulder. “Darkness isn’t always the same thing as evil, Eli. You know that as well as I do.”
Wearily, he sighed. “Yes. I do know that. And yet this girl feels—vile.”
The door swung open, and Malachi came striding in. Agnes smiled at him, lifting a hand. He caught it and bent low, pressing a kiss to it. “Nessa, love.”
“Are you being a good boy, Mal?” Agnes asked as she glanced toward the dark woman who stood behind him. “You aren’t driving Leandra mad, are you?”
With a scowl, Malachi muttered, “Indeed—that one will drive me mad.”
Eli laughed dryly. “Hard job, that. You’re quite insane already.”
Malachi didn’t respond as he moved to join Eli at the window. Long red hair was caught in a queue at the nape of his neck, and muscles stretched the black cotton of the long-sleeved T-shirt he wore. The front of the T-shirt was emblazoned with huge red letters: Bite Me .
Mal had told Agnes earlier that Jonathan’s adopted daughter had given him the shirt. “I rather like it,” he’d said.
Right now, though, the humor was gone
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