Soulceress (The Mythean Arcana 2) - Page 42

“You never know, it could turn around.”

It didn’t. After he’d swept the small pile of pistachios he’d won toward his side of the table, she handed over the cards. He dealt and they played several hands while the howling wind outside added atmosphere to the low hum of their conversation. She kept it superficial—gossip about the university—and with the dim light from the table lamps, it felt like they were in their own little world. It was nice to sit across from him and just play cards. Though tension was thick in the air and accentuated by covert glances, it felt good to spend time with him when she wasn’t yelling, having to act tough, or trying to seduce him.

Lulled by the coziness of their surroundings and distracted by Warren’s warm presence, she didn’t bother to introduce more complex conversation that would get her the answers that she wanted. She didn’t even bother to stack the deck in her favor, and as a result, she lost three hands out of five. Not bad, considering that she was playing fair, but it reminded her that she’d suggested the game for a reason.

With the warm hum of whiskey in her blood, Esha figured that it was time to up the ante with a question or two. She met his eyes over her hand of cards. “Why do you want to catch her so badly? Your commitment seems… personal.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re handling this one personally. In the ten years I’ve been with the university, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you go out on an assignment.”

He shrugged, and she took it as an assent.

“Why is it that you don’t? You’re relatively young to lead the Praesidium. Warriors your age would normally be raring to fight.” Hell, in their world, anyone who wasn’t bedridden liked the occasional scuffle.

“Three hundred and eighty-four is young?”

“Compared to Cadan and the rest.”

He nodded. Most Mythean Guardians were older than he was. “I killed enough people in my mortal life.”

“Who?” From the darkness in his voice, he wasn’t talking about just any casualty of war.

“I’m done killing,” he said, ignoring her questions. “I doona want to anymore. I haven’t in over three hundred years.”

“Not even rogues?”

He shook his head. This battle-hardened warrior, covered in scars from his past life, didn’t even want to kill rogues? Killing rogues was a good thing. Mythean survival depended upon their living under the radar of mortals. Rogues were so selfish, or so crazy, that they didn’t care about revealing their presence. Some were Mytheans who lived on earth, others were demons escaped from one of the hells, but either way, consensus had it that they were best disposed of quickly if they refused or were incapable of mending their ways.

Who had he killed in his past that had traumatized him to the point that he wouldn’t even kill rogues?

“Anyway,” he said, “the Praesidium isn’t about killing. It’s about protecting.”

“Those important to humanity, I know. But sometimes there’s fighting and killing. And you don’t want any part of it. Were you ever a Mythean Guardian, out on the front lines protecting those who hold our fate in their hands?”

“That’s a romantic way to look at it. But no, I wasn’t.”

“You were made the boss without ever serving with the troops?”

He shrugged.

“You must be a good leader.”

“I read people’s strengths well, which is important when assigning Mythean Guardians to a case. I’d lived

at the university for about fifty years before I met Aerten, and she decided that I’d be a good candidate for the job when she couldn’t be on earth.”

Esha had only met Aerten, the Celtic goddess of fate, once, when Warren had invited her to be a consultant for the Praesidium. Aerten had met with her to approve it. Esha had to agree that the goddess had an uncommon insight. If she thought Warren read people well, then he did.

“So, about Aurora, then …”

Warren handed her the deck of cards to deal and said nothing. She gave him a loaded look, not wanting to let him off the hook. Still, he said nothing, just nodded at the cards.

“Fine. At least tell me why you couldn’t go into the howf.” When she’d asked if he’d wanted to come, he’d said he couldn’t, and with real regret in his voice, not that he didn’t want to.

“No’ going to happen,” Warren said. There was no way he’d be telling her about his soul.

Though the card game had been pleasant—hell, more than pleasant, sitting across from the soulceress with her gleaming golden eyes concentrated on the cards and her throaty voice filling the room—it would be a bad idea to share the real reason he was hunting Aurora.

Tags: Linsey Hall The Mythean Arcana Paranormal
Source: readsnovelonline.net
readsnovelonline.net Copyright 2016 - 2024