The Scribe of Shadows: A Steamy Urban Fantasy Romance by Jen Lassalle

Author:Jen Lassalle [Lassalle, Jen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jen Lassalle
Published: 2021-04-07T16:00:00+00:00

25

Kida had been warned about the tempestuous storms that ravaged New Orleans in the summer, but this was the first she’d encountered. The winds howled outside, angry they couldn’t break through windows, so they settled for rattling panes. Still, there was an eerie and uneasy silence in the house. June and Ashlynn had settled into their new bedroom, unsteady but still together. Davis had disappeared into that mysterious room where, when he returned, he would have all the colors of his imagination splattered on his clothes and in his hair.

Kida pretended not to enjoy his rumpled state, but there was something she couldn’t deny budding there. He frustrated her. He challenged her. He looked at her, and it set her insides on fire.

Mother would have scoffed. Mother would remind Kida that, other than the Scribe and her purpose, the rest was noise. Collateral damage in a war she would fight to the end. Unnecessary and expendable.

On their first visit to this world, it towered over her and around her—filling her senses with bright lights and loud noises. She was just barely out of childhood, just discovering that her body and mind looked and felt more like that of a woman than a child. Men and boys alike glanced at her, their stares lingering as they walked past. It was foreign to Kida, but not to her mother. While Kida’s gazes were passing and curious, her mother received long leers and sly smiles.

It was as if they knew her. As if some animal instinct inside them told them she was prey.

It’s not worth saving, but we do it for our own sake.

They did not know she was the hunter. She’d reel them in with a coy smile or a lifted shoulder and have what she wanted within minutes. Money. Shelter. Them.

Kida rubbed her wrist at the memory, fingering the scar she’d received as a child, not from Skotari, not from a battle or training.

Look at them, Kida. A sea of fools and light and sound.

If she were here now, she’d distrust the brother, and the girlfriend, and remind Kida to put them in their places—as the tribe. And if a Scribe had fought against her calling the way June was … Mother would lock her in a cage with paper and ink until the deed was done.

But deep down, Kida had always known that, no matter how she pretended, she was different from her mother. She wasn’t able to dismiss emotions or pleas from others, or manipulate people to her advantage. It wasn’t her way.

Especially with Davis.

Hell, with them all. She was no hunter. She’d gone past duty.

This new development—Eoman using the Tellos to control the Skotari—put her on edge. If he understood the power it had, he could do more than pause June’s writing. He could control it.

He had an endgame that went beyond stopping her progress. Kida had an endgame beyond revenge.

So, while the tribe rested, Kida stood guard. By now she knew which floorboards to step across, how

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