Read Online The Twiceborn Queen (The Proving Book 2) by Marina Finlayson - Free Book Online
Authors: Marina Finlayson
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eager to be done with the house and its bittersweet memories so I could get back to my miraculously alive child. Lego in hand, of course. I entered the dim hallway; all the blinds were drawn to keep out the heat. The sharp eucalyptus smell of disinfectant lingered in the air, probably from when I’d thrown up the channel stone on this very spot last week. Garth was right behind me. “Can you believe it’s only a week since we met?”
That had been my first inkling of how my life was about to change—coming home and being attacked by an intruder in my kitchen. An intruder who had turned into a wolf and tried to tear my heart out. Happy times.
“Should have killed you then and saved myself a lot of trouble.” He prowled around the tiny house, checking every room, assuring himself it was safe. If he’d been in wolf form his hackles probably would have been standing up. Not a happy camper, our Garth.
“I love you too.”
His mouth quirked in spite of himself. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
I stared at his muscled back as he disappeared into the kitchen. Hadn’t been expecting that answer. Smart arse. At least he hadn’t completely lost his sense of humour. He hadn’t quoted Star Wars in days, which was a bad sign. Something was definitely eating at him.
I’d hoped reuniting him with some of Leandra’s team would help him, but he still seemed to be struggling. Wolves were pack animals. They liked togetherness, but they loved order. A pack was a hierarchy where every member knew their place, and how they related to every other member. Simple. Clear and certain.
First he’d lost his mistress, and the thralls had scattered. Then he’d lost Luce, the person he relied on to tell him what to do. Now life was full of new faces and uncertainties, and a lot of responsibility for making sure those uncertainties didn’t prove fatal had fallen on his broad shoulders.
I knew how he felt. All our lives had been turned upside down in the last week, but Garth’s way of coping seemed to be digging his heels in and trying to control every last little detail, like his insistence on finding the goblin. Although, as it turned out, that hadn’t been such a bad idea. Whoever the tell-me had summoned would have been bad news.
I stopped in the doorway of Lachie’s room. Funny how, even knowing he was still alive, the weight of all that remembered sorrow pressed down on me, gathered in this room. I hadn’t moved a thing; it was still exactly as it had been the day our lives unravelled, his school bag dropped on the floor by his chair, books spilling out onto the carpet next to pieces of Lego and a lone sock. The other one had probably been kicked under the bed, but I’d never looked. The room was like a shrine to my lost son, both a solace and an unbearable reminder of the bright little spark of life I’d thought forever extinguished.
I drew in a shuddering breath. Garth’s keen eyes missed nothing. He laid a big hand on my bare shoulder, but all he said was: “Guess the kid really likes Lego.”
“Yep.”
Apart from the pieces in various stages of construction all over the carpet, there were models on his bedhead, on top of his chest of drawers, and lined up along the shelves of a bookcase that had room for only a handful of books crammed into one corner. Still more lurked unseen behind the doors of his wardrobe.
“I’ll bring in the boxes then.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The doorbell rang while we worked and Garth leapt up as though stung. He and Steve exchanged a look, and Steve’s hand slipped under the jacket he wore despite the heat.
“Oh, come on, guys. It’s probably just Tanya.”
“Stay there,” said Steve. “I’ll check.”
I followed him down the hall, ignoring his warning glare. Steve’s muscled bulk was intimidating, but I’d been glared at by experts. And I wasn’t having Tanya dropping dead of a heart attack because a giant with a gun opened the door to her. “No assassin is going
That had been my first inkling of how my life was about to change—coming home and being attacked by an intruder in my kitchen. An intruder who had turned into a wolf and tried to tear my heart out. Happy times.
“Should have killed you then and saved myself a lot of trouble.” He prowled around the tiny house, checking every room, assuring himself it was safe. If he’d been in wolf form his hackles probably would have been standing up. Not a happy camper, our Garth.
“I love you too.”
His mouth quirked in spite of himself. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
I stared at his muscled back as he disappeared into the kitchen. Hadn’t been expecting that answer. Smart arse. At least he hadn’t completely lost his sense of humour. He hadn’t quoted Star Wars in days, which was a bad sign. Something was definitely eating at him.
I’d hoped reuniting him with some of Leandra’s team would help him, but he still seemed to be struggling. Wolves were pack animals. They liked togetherness, but they loved order. A pack was a hierarchy where every member knew their place, and how they related to every other member. Simple. Clear and certain.
First he’d lost his mistress, and the thralls had scattered. Then he’d lost Luce, the person he relied on to tell him what to do. Now life was full of new faces and uncertainties, and a lot of responsibility for making sure those uncertainties didn’t prove fatal had fallen on his broad shoulders.
I knew how he felt. All our lives had been turned upside down in the last week, but Garth’s way of coping seemed to be digging his heels in and trying to control every last little detail, like his insistence on finding the goblin. Although, as it turned out, that hadn’t been such a bad idea. Whoever the tell-me had summoned would have been bad news.
I stopped in the doorway of Lachie’s room. Funny how, even knowing he was still alive, the weight of all that remembered sorrow pressed down on me, gathered in this room. I hadn’t moved a thing; it was still exactly as it had been the day our lives unravelled, his school bag dropped on the floor by his chair, books spilling out onto the carpet next to pieces of Lego and a lone sock. The other one had probably been kicked under the bed, but I’d never looked. The room was like a shrine to my lost son, both a solace and an unbearable reminder of the bright little spark of life I’d thought forever extinguished.
I drew in a shuddering breath. Garth’s keen eyes missed nothing. He laid a big hand on my bare shoulder, but all he said was: “Guess the kid really likes Lego.”
“Yep.”
Apart from the pieces in various stages of construction all over the carpet, there were models on his bedhead, on top of his chest of drawers, and lined up along the shelves of a bookcase that had room for only a handful of books crammed into one corner. Still more lurked unseen behind the doors of his wardrobe.
“I’ll bring in the boxes then.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
The doorbell rang while we worked and Garth leapt up as though stung. He and Steve exchanged a look, and Steve’s hand slipped under the jacket he wore despite the heat.
“Oh, come on, guys. It’s probably just Tanya.”
“Stay there,” said Steve. “I’ll check.”
I followed him down the hall, ignoring his warning glare. Steve’s muscled bulk was intimidating, but I’d been glared at by experts. And I wasn’t having Tanya dropping dead of a heart attack because a giant with a gun opened the door to her. “No assassin is going
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