Heather Killough Walden The Chosen Soul (pdf)

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his lower jaw. His ears were pointed, resembling those of an elf s, and his dark brown
hair was long, braided on either side and held with bone beads.
Already turned them in, did you?
No.
The green-skinned man s eyes narrowed. What are you about, Tanith?
I need a favor.
The man snorted and picked up his tankard of ale. What else is new?
Don t go martyr on me, Grolsch. You owe me more favors than I can count.
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Heather Killough-Walden
His green-skinned companion laughed at that and shrugged. That s what you bought
into when you decided to become my friend. Besides, he added and then took another
swig of his drink, I keep you on your toes.
Drake smiled and leaned back as a serving wench set a new mug of ale in front of
him.
Can I get you anything else, handsome? she asked as his molten silvery eyes
locked with hers. He shook his head. Once.
Her smile disappeared and she spun on her heel and left.
Grolsch laughed again and finished off his drink. You made her leave before I could
get another mug of ale, you son of a bitch. Why the hell do you always have to be so
scary, anyway?
It s in my blood.
Boy, you re not kidding.
Drake picked up his drink and took a long pull. He normally did not imbibe. But
something inside of him was on edge, off, nervous. It wasn t like him to lose any control,
whatsoever, over his emotions. He had been doing his job for a very long time. He was
good at what he did. The best. He d never failed to bring in a quarry. Not once. He had a
reputation to uphold.
And Raven Grey was about to blow it all to Hell.
Grolsch, I need you to take her from me.
Grolsch stared at him.
Who?
The woman I ve been paid to bring in.
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The Chosen Soul
Ummm& What? Grolsch s brow furrowed and his head cocked to one side, his
eyes squinting as if he truly did not understand.
You heard me. I need you to take her out of my hands. I can t turn her in.
Grolsch s eyes widened. You re joking, aren t you?
No.
The green-skinned man leaned forward again and his voice softened. He looked
nervous. Drake, you ve been doing this a very, very long time. You ve never had a
problem with your mark. What is going on?
Drake did not answer right away. He was not sure what to say. What should he tell
his friend? That he d never seen a woman as beautiful as Raven in all his long life? That,
from the moment he d laid eyes on her in the prince s viewing pool, he had been capable
of thinking of nothing else? That, as he was researching his quarry, he d learned she was
the daughter of Malphas and she was the Chosen Soul& And that made her more special
than Grolsch could imagine&
I have my reasons, Grolsch. Not the least of which is the prince. He s the one
paying me. And he doesn t deserve her.
Grolsch s large brow lifted in renewed interest. Oh? He leaned back again and
eyed his friend carefully. I ve known you for a long time, Tanith. You ve never behaved
like this before. There s something about her you re not telling me. What is she, your
sister or something?
Drake looked up from his mug to meet his friend s inquisitive gaze. No. We are not
related in any way whatsoever. It was true. However, if Grolsch knew how close he d
come to the truth with that guess, he would have choked.
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Heather Killough-Walden
Grolsch nodded slowly. I agree with you that the prince doesn t deserve much of
anything at all, much less a woman. But what makes this mortal so different?
For one thing, she isn t mortal. And she attacked him. Drake quickly added,
hoping his friend s attention would glide over the mortal thing and head straight into the
topic of her attack, as he did so love to fight.
She attacked him? A woman attacked the Elf Prince? Grolsch threw back his head
and barked out laughter. By the gods, I wish I d been there to see that!
Drake sat silently, watching his companion.
Grolsch stopped laughing and settled down again. Aye, she ll be lucky if she isn t
executed for such a thing. If she s fortunate, she s pretty and her looks ll keep her from
the Blue Robe s Ring. Then again, knowing what she d face if she wasn t killed, the Ring
might be better.
Drake s jaw tensed. Grolsch had never seen Raven, so his comment about her beauty
did not surprise him. However, his talk of the Blue Robe s execution Ring set Drake even
more on edge than he had already been. For now, he could not get the images of the
forsaken ritual out of his head. Any time a mortal acted up in such a way as to deserve
execution, it was the Blue Robes, the elven mages, who handled the punishment. The
Ring was just that. A ring of land, roped off with magic, in which the condemned was
placed.
Then, depending on the prisoner s particular crime, either a single spell or a chain of
spells were cast. The victim might die quickly. Or he might die a slow, gruesome and
agonizing death.
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The Chosen Soul
Worse was the knowledge that the Prince had absolutely no intention of killing
Raven. She was, singularly, the most stunningly gorgeous woman to walk upon the
Terran realm, and Drake had no doubt that the Prince also knew she was both the
daughter of Malphas and the Chosen Soul. No, he wasn t going to kill her.
On the contrary, he had other things in mind.
Not that Drake could blame the man.
Grolsch quieted down and watched the bounty hunter in silence. Several more
moments passed before the large man sighed and shrugged. Very well. I ll take her. But
no one in their right minds is going to believe that an ork was able to take quarry away
from Drake of Tanith.
I ll take care of that part.
Uh-huh. Sure. All right. Grolsch leaned over the table and took Drake s drink from
him. You weren t drinking it anyway. He took a big swig and placed it back upon the
table. Just what did you want me to do with her once I ve got her?
Take her to the Draca Desert.
Again the ork barked with laughter and shook his head. Right! Now I know you ve
lost your ever-loving mind. No mortal can survive in that desert. He eyed Drake
carefully. Why would I take her into that place? She ll die!
No. You won t take her into the desert. You ll take her to it. I ll meet you a half-
day s ride from the valley leading into it. I ll take over from there.
Grolsch s eyes got very large. Oh my.
Drake stilled.
You re going to keep her.
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Heather Killough-Walden
Drake said nothing. He slid his beer back across the table and took a long pull from
its contents.
You re digging yourself a grave, my friend. You are who you are, but I think you
may just be underestimating the elves this time. If she s so special you re thinking of [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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