Read Online The Barrier Between (Collector Series # 2) by Stacey Marie Brown - Free Book Online Page B

the one who ran like a coward,” Arlo
said.
    “Coward? I don’t think I’ve ever been called one
before.” Ryker clenched his axe, his hand strangling the wood.
“There were twenty of you and one of me. Didn’t feel the outcome
was entirely on my side, but I still managed to mess up your pretty
face.”
    Ryker did that?
    “What are you doing here, Arlo? Is this revenge?”
    “It’s been eighty years. You think I would wait this
long for payback?” Arlo took another puff of his cigarette and
dropped it on the ground, his boot snuffing it out.
    Ryker snorted. “Yes.”
    Arlo shrugged and took a step forward. “In my line of
work, you always keep an ear to the ground. Always know what is
going on... and I heard you are looking for a shaman, which struck
me as odd. Why would you need a shaman? Especially one as powerful
as Regnus? But then these astonishing claims floated my way...”
Arlo took another casual step over, looking like he was conversing
with an old friend. “A rumor you no longer have your magic.”
    Ryker lifted his chin to the side, where the nerve
along his mouth convulsed.
    “You can see why I would find this interesting.”
    Suddenly, I detected more fae around, their glamour
skating over my arms. Lots of them. We were going to be
ambushed.
    “Ryker,” I mumbled to him, going on defense.
    Only his eyes flicked over to me, and I could see he
also sensed them.
    “Is this why you have people on the lookout for me?”
Ryker said. “And you say this has nothing to do with revenge.”
    “Maybe a little.” Arlo bared his teeth in a sneer.
“Water fairies are quite easy to persuade.”
    I jerked my head around as I felt bodies moving
closer around us.
    Arlo tilted his head to see me, as if he only just
noticed I was there. “I also heard your woman was being held by
Vadik.”
    “Guess you are wrong again.” Ryker pushed me farther
behind him. It was too late.
    Arlo’s laugh bounced off the mountains. “Like she
could pass for Amara. The hair kind of gives it away.” Arlo
motioned toward me. “A human. Wow. How low you have sunk. But this
only makes the claims seem more like fact.”
    “What do you want, Arlo?”
    Arlo’s lips curled in a smirk. “The stone.”
    Every muscle clenched across Ryker’s back, stretching
his shirt. “I don’t have it. Nor would I give it to you if I
did.”
    Arlo sighed and shook his greasy brown hair. “I was
hoping not to have to play this game with you.”
    The jolt from the fae moving toward us sent panic
thrumming into me. Heat ignited inside, and I felt the wind rush in
my ears.
    Oh hell .
    In a blink I was standing in front of Ryker. The
power inside me emerged in a growl, protecting its owner like a
guard dog. I was really going to have to have a conversation with
these abilities because instead of making me into some cool wolf, I
looked more like a Pomeranian, puffed up and hopping all over.
    Ryker’s anger crashed into my back. His body seemed
to grow bigger, dwarfing me in his shadow. The rage wasn’t
completely directed at me, but I could feel its impact like a punch
in my back. In one involuntary action, I realized too late I’d
showed them all our cards.
    Arlo blinked, shock widened his eyes, then a sly
smile grew on his mouth till it was forced to open in a hearty
laugh. “Gods, this is perfect.” He continued to howl. “Oh, little
human, you don’t know how happy you have made me.”
    Arlo and his men now had proof I contained Ryker’s
powers. He could no longer play it off as a false rumor. It
rendered him vulnerable. To fae it meant death.
    A growl erupted from Ryker. He took another step to
me, his chest slamming my back. The fury seething in him clawed my
neck.
    Arlo’s chuckle faded into the night air, but a
malicious smile took its place. “Is she your bodyguard, Wanderer?
Should I call her that now?”
    “Leave her out of this,” Ryker growled.
    “I don’t think so.” Arlo smirked. “After you give me
the stone, you