Read Online Return to Kadenburg by T. E. Ridener - Free Book Online

Arnold
seemed to hate, and the one she understood to hate everything they stood for.
Didn’t Natalie hate being an ursithrope? Wasn’t that what Arnold said?
    “No,” Natalie admitted as she pulled back to wipe at
her own tears. “But I did mention I had a niece.”
    Presley shrugged. “What does that have to do with
anything?”
    “It has everything to do with it, I’m afraid,” Natalie
confessed as she lowered her gaze to the floor. “We don’t have much time,
Presley, but I’ll tell you what I can.”

 
    Seven
     
    O nce they were in the safety of the hotel room
and Dimitri was tucked beneath the blankets, Rutley picked up the phone on the
nightstand and dialed his father’s number. He eased down into an ugly beige
chair near the heater, stretching his legs out as he waited for his father to
answer.
    On the fourth ring, his father’s sleepy voice echoed in
his ear. “Hello?”
    “Hey, Dad, it’s me,” Rutley said as he lazily pushed
his boots off.
    “Hey,” his father suddenly sounded much more alert.
“What time is it?”
    “Uh,” Rutley glanced at the clock near the television,
reading over the illuminated numbers. “Eleven twenty three. Were you
seriously in bed already?”
    His father didn’t answer immediately and it made Rutley
wonder if he’d asked the wrong thing.
    “Yeah,” his dad finally said. “It’s just been a long
day. I was tired. Did you find anything?”
    Rutley glanced at the bed then, his eyes falling upon
the sleeping male nestled beneath the sheets. He watched the steady rise and
fall of his chest and licked his lips. “Kind of.”
    “Kind of? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Did
you get any leads from Mrs. Bamey?”
    “Sort of,” Rutley replied purposefully. “But I’ll tell
you about it tomorrow. I’m pretty tired myself so I think I’m going to turn in
for the night. I’ll see you in the morning, okay?”
    “Rutley, wait.”
    “Yeah?”
    “Where are you? Why didn’t you just come home for the
night? You’ve got a bed here, you know…..”
    “Yeah, I know,” Rutley gripped the receiver tightly as
his jawline flexed and relaxed. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight.”
    He hung up before his father had the opportunity to say
anything else. He didn’t want to talk about it anyway. He had more important
things to worry about in the moment, and none of those things involved his
father trying to mend things between them.
    Leaning forward, he rested his elbows against his
thighs and exhaled a steady breath. At least he’d found one of them, although
he was fairly sure the ‘one’ he’d retrieved was a werewolf and he was supposed
to kill any and all he came across.
    What sense would it make to kill a man he’d just
saved? It would be like going on vacation just to sleep the entire time;
pointless.
    “Seems like we’ve got ourselves a situation here,” he
said thoughtfully.
    He still had to find Lorcan, Presley, and the Kress
boy. Maybe once this Dimitri character woke up, he could get more information
out of him. Damn it, he was running short on time.
    “Hey,” he nudged the male’s arm with a single finger.
“You need to wake up.”
    He waited for five seconds and then he poked him
again. “I’m serious. I need to talk to you.”
    Dimitri groaned, rolling onto his side so that his back
was facing Rutley. He murmured softly and Rutley had to lean in closer just to
hear what he was saying.
    “Liam.”
    It felt like he’d been punched in the gut as he quickly
pulled away, his eyes staying on the male’s back as he rubbed at the back of
his neck vigorously. That’s right. The werewolves in the woods had mentioned
Liam. This guy knew Liam.
    His mouth went dry on him as he stood from the chair
and moved towards the bathroom. He felt sick, and way too hot. He needed to
get a grip.
    He quickly flicked on the light switch, listening to
the annoyingly loud hum of the vent overhead as he gazed at the mirror. His
reflection stared back at