Read Online Pure Blood (Time Spirit Trilogy, #3) by Melissa Pearl - Free Book Online Page A

away in fear of the
feisty tigress.
    Sheathing her sword, she knelt to the ground
and tried to pull the man over. He resisted her with more strength
than she had anticipated, his hand clinging to his necklace with a
vice like grip that Gemma decided was not worth the battle after a
couple of attempts.
    “Just relax and let me look at you.” She kept
her voice gentle, yet commanding. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
    After a little more persuasion, his posture
loosened and she was able to turn his body and get a decent look at
him. He had a gash to his forehead and deep facial bruising.
    “I think your nose is broken.” Pulling in her
breath, she placed her thumbs on the crooked cartilage. “I’m sorry,
but this may hurt.” With a quick jerk she righted the injury and
winced at the man’s pained expression.
    Rising slowly from the forest floor, he
pinched the bridge of his nose and dropped his head between his
knees.
    “Do you have any other injuries?”
    “None that I want you assessing thank you
very much.”
    Gemma smiled. She waited in silence as the
man drew in a few deep breaths. Finally lifting his head, he opened
his eyes. He gazed at her intently for a moment before his eyes
lightened with recognition.
    “We meet again.”
    “Hello, Nathaniel.”
     
    * * * *
     
    The horses were easily retrieved and the duo
walked their beasts to the nearby stream. Gemma stroked her mare’s
mane as it drank.
    “I must say, I never I thought I’d be seeing
you again, much less watching you save my life so easily.”
    “Well, I owed you one.” Gemma shot him a
wink.
    He grinned back at her.
    “You’ve been looking for me, haven’t
you?”
    “Yes, and I have to say, you’ve been very
challenging to find.”
    The glimmer in his eye faded and silence
reigned. Gemma ran her fingers over the sleek coat of her horse,
forcing her lips shut. She watched the turmoil of emotion rolling
across his face like breaking waves. Suddenly it cleared and he
looked at her.
    “Why are you here?”
    “Because you need my help… and I need
yours.”
    “How so?” His eyes were probing and Gemma
felt the weight of her knowledge. She gazed back at him, unsure how
much to share. Swallowing down the lump in her throat, she decided
to throw all caution to the wind and go for the one hundred
percent, foolproof truth.
    “I know where Helena is.”
    His face stilled. “You’ve seen Helena?” His
eyes stared at her with such open hope she almost didn’t want to
say the next line.
    “You can’t reach her, Nathaniel, well not
physically anyway.”
    His brows furrowed. A deep sadness settled
into the crevasses of his face. Gemma couldn’t hold in her
sigh.
    “Here, why don’t you let me clean that wound
and I’ll tell you all about it.”
    Taking her horse’s reins, she led the mare to
a clearing and began a quick collection of firewood. It didn’t take
long to get a fire roaring. Gemma heated water over the flames,
added some healing herbs and dipped the rag into the mixture. As
she washed and dressed his wound then prepared him something to
eat, Gemma told him what Helena really was and her theory on why
she had to leave him.
    “I have a son?” Nathaniel leaned back against
the tree, his astonished features morphing to an expression of soft
marshmallow.
    Gemma felt her eyes grow moist as she studied
him.
    “His name’s Harrison Nathan Granger and he’s…
amazing.”
    Nathaniel glanced at her and smiled.
    “He looks a lot like you actually. Scarily
so.”
    “You called me Harrison the first time we
met. I’ve often wondered about that. How old is he now?”
    “He turned 18 a couple of months ago.”
    Nathaniel shook his head and grinned.
    “I wish I could meet him.”
    “Me too. He’s… he would make you really
proud.”
    He nodded then turned his gaze back to the
stream. His features leveled out to a wistful sadness.
    “She did the right thing… leaving here. This
future you speak of sounds