Read Online Seduced by Lies by Alex Lux - Free Book Online
Authors: Alex Lux
Tags: Romance, Coming of Age, Fantasy, Paranormal, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Vampires, Psychics, New Adult & College, Paranormal & Urban, Demons & Devils, Angels, Werewolves & Shifters
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don't trust for a second that you can, or will, stop it."
Ryder didn't even bother to look at me. Prick. "If you mean that this attacker is of the Church, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but he is not."
"I thought all Lycans were part of the Church," I said. "If he's not, then what is he?"
"A lone wolf," Ryder said. "An outcast. He will be found. And he will be punished."
The Bishop finished his exam and sighed, making the sign of the cross over Curtis then turning to us. "There is nothing to be done, I'm afraid."
Rose gasped, and Sam frowned. Drake and I nearly lunged at the Bishop. Father Patrick and Dr. Susie just looked resigned. Paul, Curtis' fiancé, choked back a sob.
"But, isn't it a werewolf bite?" I asked, resisting the urge to pound his smug face into the ground.
"It appears it is," said the Bishop, "but I have no cure. No one does. The bite is infected with a deadly bacteria, and it is already tearing down his immune system."
Paul regained his voice. "How much time does he have left?"
"Not long," said the Bishop. "A day, at best."
Paul crumbled to the ground, putting his head on Curtis' bed. Curtis stroked his hair, murmuring comforting, if meaningless, words to him, then kissed his hand.
The Bishop looked away in disdain, nostrils flaring as he faced Father Patrick. "I cannot not believe you have allowed this to go on." His voice, raised in outrage, reverberated through the room.
Father Patrick looked up, astonished. "What do you mean?"
Bishop Sarlo gestured toward the Curtis and Paul. "Heathen, unnatural practices." Then he pointed at Sam, who held a sleeping Ana. "Pregnancies. One might think you've opened a brothel."
Drake stepped up to the Bishop, rage on his face. "Are you calling my wife a whore?"
The Bishop only smiled in that pompously arrogant way he had. I looked to Drake and nodded. I had his back, and he knew it. We could take these assholes.
"Do not be offended, young man," the Bishop said. "This is Father Patrick's wrongdoing. These practices will be eliminated, once I am in charge."
"You will never run this place," Drake said, advancing on the Bishop.
Ryder moved between them, facing Drake. "We have decided there may be a use for this place," he said. "Do not make us change our decision."
"Or?"
"Or I'll kill you."
"Try."
Ryder roared, and I slammed into him, pushing him against the wall with my hands around his neck. One twist and I could snap it.
"Fight me first," I growled.
Ryder sneered. "You protect his kind?"
"I protect everyone at this school. We have welcomed you here," I said, fuming. "Do not make us change our decision."
Ryder's vein pulsed in his forehead, and his eyes turned bloodshot. "You want to die, shifter?"
I laughed. "Is that a challenge?" This bastard had no idea what my training had been. I had multiple black belts, not to mention shifter strength and druid magic. Let him try.
"Please," Curtis' voice, so faint, stopped me from ending Ryder. "Stop fighting. We are all victims here."
"They've lost nothing," I said, but I released him. Only for Curtis. If he really was going to die soon, I wouldn't let this be his last memory.
"When news of these attacks grow," Curtis said in a whisper, "people will turn on all of us. They'll blame shifters. They'll blame Lycans."
"My kind is innocent," I said, keeping my eye on Ryder.
"People won't care. To them we're all the same. We're all monsters." Curtis squeezed Paul's hand more tightly, his body already so frail. "Please, the world out there is hard for all of us. This must be where we, no matter how different, are accepted. A place where we are loved."
Curtis gazed into Paul's eyes and smiled. "We all need love from time to time."
I wished I could believe what he believed, wished I could live a life that believed in the inherent goodness of human nature, but I'd seen too much. If I couldn't believe, and I couldn't fight, then I couldn't be here.
I turned and stormed out the door.
F OURTEEN
In My
Ryder didn't even bother to look at me. Prick. "If you mean that this attacker is of the Church, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but he is not."
"I thought all Lycans were part of the Church," I said. "If he's not, then what is he?"
"A lone wolf," Ryder said. "An outcast. He will be found. And he will be punished."
The Bishop finished his exam and sighed, making the sign of the cross over Curtis then turning to us. "There is nothing to be done, I'm afraid."
Rose gasped, and Sam frowned. Drake and I nearly lunged at the Bishop. Father Patrick and Dr. Susie just looked resigned. Paul, Curtis' fiancé, choked back a sob.
"But, isn't it a werewolf bite?" I asked, resisting the urge to pound his smug face into the ground.
"It appears it is," said the Bishop, "but I have no cure. No one does. The bite is infected with a deadly bacteria, and it is already tearing down his immune system."
Paul regained his voice. "How much time does he have left?"
"Not long," said the Bishop. "A day, at best."
Paul crumbled to the ground, putting his head on Curtis' bed. Curtis stroked his hair, murmuring comforting, if meaningless, words to him, then kissed his hand.
The Bishop looked away in disdain, nostrils flaring as he faced Father Patrick. "I cannot not believe you have allowed this to go on." His voice, raised in outrage, reverberated through the room.
Father Patrick looked up, astonished. "What do you mean?"
Bishop Sarlo gestured toward the Curtis and Paul. "Heathen, unnatural practices." Then he pointed at Sam, who held a sleeping Ana. "Pregnancies. One might think you've opened a brothel."
Drake stepped up to the Bishop, rage on his face. "Are you calling my wife a whore?"
The Bishop only smiled in that pompously arrogant way he had. I looked to Drake and nodded. I had his back, and he knew it. We could take these assholes.
"Do not be offended, young man," the Bishop said. "This is Father Patrick's wrongdoing. These practices will be eliminated, once I am in charge."
"You will never run this place," Drake said, advancing on the Bishop.
Ryder moved between them, facing Drake. "We have decided there may be a use for this place," he said. "Do not make us change our decision."
"Or?"
"Or I'll kill you."
"Try."
Ryder roared, and I slammed into him, pushing him against the wall with my hands around his neck. One twist and I could snap it.
"Fight me first," I growled.
Ryder sneered. "You protect his kind?"
"I protect everyone at this school. We have welcomed you here," I said, fuming. "Do not make us change our decision."
Ryder's vein pulsed in his forehead, and his eyes turned bloodshot. "You want to die, shifter?"
I laughed. "Is that a challenge?" This bastard had no idea what my training had been. I had multiple black belts, not to mention shifter strength and druid magic. Let him try.
"Please," Curtis' voice, so faint, stopped me from ending Ryder. "Stop fighting. We are all victims here."
"They've lost nothing," I said, but I released him. Only for Curtis. If he really was going to die soon, I wouldn't let this be his last memory.
"When news of these attacks grow," Curtis said in a whisper, "people will turn on all of us. They'll blame shifters. They'll blame Lycans."
"My kind is innocent," I said, keeping my eye on Ryder.
"People won't care. To them we're all the same. We're all monsters." Curtis squeezed Paul's hand more tightly, his body already so frail. "Please, the world out there is hard for all of us. This must be where we, no matter how different, are accepted. A place where we are loved."
Curtis gazed into Paul's eyes and smiled. "We all need love from time to time."
I wished I could believe what he believed, wished I could live a life that believed in the inherent goodness of human nature, but I'd seen too much. If I couldn't believe, and I couldn't fight, then I couldn't be here.
I turned and stormed out the door.
F OURTEEN
In My
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