Read Online Queen of the Sylphs by L. J. McDonald - Free Book Online

didn’t really need to feed anyway. It was just part of the itchiness.
    He let the energy of the night flow over him instead, trying desperately to relax. It was poisonous to him, but the breeze was cool on his bare skin and the clear sky vaguely hypnotic overhead. Not so hypnotic that he didn’t pick up the emotions coming from beside the rock wall that separated the front garden from the street. He’d felt them earlier, before Betha came in for her little confrontation, and he recognized them now as easily as he would from any of his other masters.
    “You’re not welcome here, Justin,” he said.
    The youth stepped out from the shadows, glaring. Ril glared back. Even before the last few months he hadn’t liked him. As a child, Justin had been needy and obsessive. Cowardly. Since he’d been turned into a feeder in Meridal, he’d become bitter and angry as well. Right now he was outraged.
    Ril held his emotions under control. He couldn’t help but project anything strong he felt to his masters, and he did not want Justin knowing what he was going through. Nor did he want to wake Lizzy or Leon.
    “Go away,” he repeated. “Lizzy doesn’t want to see you.”
    Justin sniffed, ignoring Ril and walking forward. A growl finally stopped him a few feet away.
    “I realized something tonight,” the young man said. “You know what it was?”
    “I don’t care.”
    “You should,” Justin snapped. “It’s your fault. I went home with my father tonight, and you know who I saw? I saw Stria, my father’s earth sylph, and I realized that I’m stuck being master to you , so I’ll never be able to be master to her.”
    “I sure she’s relieved to hear that.”
    Justin’s face went red, obvious even in the darkness. “I wish you were dead. You took everything from me.”
    Why was it that everyone was thinking that tonight?
    “I didn’t take anything you actually had,” Ril pointed out.
    Justin’s rage exploded inside of him, flashing out so brightly that Ril snarled at the feel of it. So did other battlers. Ril heard a distant roar and sent out his thoughts. I can deal with this. He didn’t want anyone believing he needed rescue. Not from this pathetic human.
    “Go away,” he repeated. “I mean it.”
    “Why didn’t you die?” Justin raged. “You bastard! Just die already!”
    Ril flinched, the absoluteness of that order rocking through him along with a sudden fear. Whatever else he might be, this youth was his master and no sylph could disobey. Leon had bound Ril in Meridal to obey only him, but he’d given that freedom back when they left. That had once again granted Justin the ability to hurt him. And while Leon had warned Justin never to take advantage, the boy didn’t seem to care anymore.
    Ril felt his rage, and he felt his order, but the order had no direction. He bucked anyway, instinctually trying to obey.
    “Justin.”
    Startled, the youth looked up. Betha stood on her front porch, her arms crossed under her breasts.
    “Mrs. Petrule?”
    “Leave my husband’s battler alone.”
    “But . . .” He gestured impotently at the shaking Ril. “But—”
    “Leave him alone, Justin. He’s a member of this family. Go home. Now.”
    Justin glared at her, his lip trembling. Then he turned and stormed away.
    Betha stared at Ril. Walking down the steps, her arms still crossed defensively in front of herself, she approached. Staring him right in the face, a moment later she sighed. “Come on, Ril,” she said. “Let’s go inside.”
    She had no control over him, but Ril obeyed her anyway. Neither of them spoke about that night to anyone.
    Half a block down the street, attracted by the shouting and now hidden in the deeper shadow of a home, Sala paused. She hadn’t been able to sleep and had been out walking, thinking about what she’d do with herself here. This was a nice little place with a lot of potential. She really couldn’t have stayed in Yed, anyway. Not after what happened to