Read Online Magick Rising by Evelyn Vaughn, Parker Blue, P. J. Bishop, Jodi Anderson, Laura Hayden, Karen Fox - Free Book Online Page A

release me from this existence and into Heaven.”
    Freaky reached a whole new time zone. “You mean the cat?”
    “Azrael is my Overseer. You’d know him as the Angel of Death.”
    “An angel. I actually get to see a real live angel, and it’s a cat?” Miko
    studied Azrael, who lounged by the fireplace.
    For the flicker of an instant a radiant being with wings replaced the cat.
    Power pummeled her like class five river rapids during snow melt.
    Then there was simply the cat gazing at her.
    Either she should be institutionalized or . . . “Okay. An angel that’s a
    cat. Got it.” After demon shapeshifters and a sexy five-hundred-year-old
    demon hunter, why not the Angel of Death? “Wait a minute. Did I hear you
    correctly back when you killed those two demons? Did he want you to kill
    me?”
    “Azrael fears my exposure and the failure of my mission. Innocents
    dying at my hands condemned me to this life. I’ve vowed to shed the blood
    of none but demons.”
    The sharp sound of a blade being drawn from its sheath drew her
    attention from the cat. The luminous dagger pulsed in his hand. “Your hair
    sticks seem to resonate with the same energy as my blade.” He passed it over
    them, and the Japanese inscriptions lit from within as that strange hum ran
    down her spine.
    Mucking about with something from her ancestress freaked her. “My
    kanzashi never acted strange before you came along.”
    He consulted the cat in that creepy telepathic way. “Azrael senses they
    have magick. Familiar yet not.” His eyebrows lifted. “Like you.”
    He said it as if all this made sense. Demons, hunters, angels. Magickers.
    She turned the kanzashi over and over in her hands as if they held the
    answers to questions she needed to ask her uncle.
    Memories of long days with Nic flew through her mind like a film on
    fast forward. Nic laughing. Nic taking care of her skinned knees and broken
    hearts. Nic introducing her to the serious pursuit of the martial arts. Nic
    shaking his head at her flippant attitude.

    Nic encouraging her to meditate, to nourish her center, to use her ki .
    Prodding her to practice not just the physical forms but the spiritual ones as
    well. Not her favorite exercises and ones she avoided whenever possible.
    Times when she could have asked questions but didn’t.
    Nic, did you ever try to tell me? Or were you waiting for something? For me to show
    signs of magick? Was I slow or inattentive?
    Was that when I was supposed to learn about the magick? Did I just not listen? Or
    did you go to war before you could tell me everything?
    If she found him alive—no, when she found him alive—she’d listen.
    I promise I’ll listen.
    “I’m supposedly descended from a female Samurai magicker,” she said,
    finally believing it. One gray rainy day when she’d been about ten, Uncle Nic
    had woven a tale of their ancestors and magick and the evil emperor who
    drove them from their lands to America.
    I didn’t realize I was supposed to believe .
    From the opposite end of the sofa, her cell played the CSI theme song.
    “It’s Kelly, the medical examiner.” How did she explain all this to Kel?
    “Don’t tell her anything I’ve revealed.”
    “Don’t worry. She has the authority to have me committed.” She
    answered with an attempt at breeziness. “How’s it going?”
    “Something’s wrong. Very wrong. Get over here. I can’t really explain it
    without you seeing it.”
    “What’s wrong with what?”
    “No time. Just get here.” Kelly hung up.
    Miko shrugged into her coat. “I have to go to Kelly’s office.
    Something’s wrong that she says I have to see.”
    Leaving the fireplace, Hadrian placed his hands on her shoulders and
    peered into her eyes. He nodded. “I’ll go with you. Appoloin’s demons will
    be hunting.”
    A shudder rippled through her. Isn’t that just a warm fuzzy?
    AS SHE PUSHED through the autopsy doors, Miko skidded to a halt. Five
    bodies lay on autopsy tables in various