Read Online His Witch To Keep (Keepers of the Veil) by Zoe Forward - Free Book Online

pissing me off. But that’s what sisters do, right?” She forced a smile.
    “You guys need a referee or something. As long as I’ve known you, the two of you are barely civil to each other.”
    And that was what made this even tougher. She sighed. “It was better when Mom and Dad were here. Eleven years without them to buffer us…” She shrugged. “She’s my sister.”
    She remained optimistic Liz valued family as much as she, even if her sister never demonstrated it.
    He shot her a pity gaze that pissed her off.
    “While you take a look at that laptop, I’ll step out and send that email to the kidnappers.” She stepped out and closed the door. A few taps on her smartphone and the email was sent. Seconds later, her phone rang. Private number.
    “This is Serenity,” she answered.
    A deep electronic unisex voice said, “We watched your boyfriend remove the monitoring equipment. A gift has been sent to you, a token to reflect our seriousness about you continuing on this alone.”
    Her stomach plummeted, but she kept emotion out of her voice. “You cut off a finger or piece of an ear. Or maybe you took a toe or ripped out a nail or a tooth? I’ve seen it all. I get that it’d piss you off, and you’d feel a need to react. I had no control over him. It’s your shitty placement that enabled him to detect them in the first place. I’m done with retrieving items. If you plan to kill her, then send me confirmation of her death. If you have her alive and wish to continue discussions, then I want to speak with her now. If you want to exchange her for this laptop, then name your place.” Real smooth. A negotiator she was not.
    “Two hours. Public parking garage in Manhattan. Fourth level. You will get the exact location in one hour. We shall return call in one minute with Liz.” The call disconnected.
    Parking garages were dangerous. Too many hidden zones. She paced and nibbled on a nail. The phone finally rang again. “Hello,” she answered.
    “Serenity? That really you?” Liz rushed out. The line echoed as if the call was on a delay.
    “What have they done to you?”
    “Help me,” Liz said. Her voice sounded far away, as if she stood in a hallway or several feet from the phone. She wondered if they listened in or this was prerecorded.
    “Are you okay?”
    “It’s awful.” Liz sobbed into the phone. “They cut my hair. They’re…oh, God, you’ve got to help me.”
    “What?” What kind of pansy-ass kidnappers threatened by giving their victim a haircut?
    “It looks terrible.” Liz choke sobbed. “The whole thing was so humiliating. I just had it highlighted. Just do whatever they want.”
    From Liz’s perspective that could be construed as top-notch torture. Only she would be choked up about something as superficial as her highlights. Softly, Serenity asked, “Have they done anything else?”
    “You need to work harder to get me out of here. Just shift over here or something.”
    Maybe she’d heard wrong. Nope. Liz had said “shift.” She choked out, “Stay alive.” What had Liz revealed to her kidnappers? She might not have been careful about concealing her abilities and might’ve revealed she wasn’t quite normal. But there was a difference between suspicion and verbal confirmation of that fact. There were certain understandings, certain sacred promises between Pleiades families and the druids. No one divulged the secrets, even on threat of death. They were the Keepers of the Veil, the protectors that stood between this world and the world of gods. Their parents died from torture while protecting those secrets, as had hundreds before them. She wanted to scream into the phone, Don’t tell them anything, you little idiot. There are lives on the line. Lives other than yours. She wanted to add, more important than yours, but were those lives more important? This was her only sister. Liz was important, too. If a Pleiad died, then her gifts transferred to the next eldest sister. When