Edge of Seventeen by Cristy Rey

Author:Cristy Rey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: magic, supernatural, witches, werewolves, witchcraft, free, series, prequel

CHAPTER SIX

Cyrus sat cross-legged at his post, eyes boring into the pages of a well-worn copy of Heart of Darkness. The hallway’s walls were dense with religious tapestries. Red-blood carpeting and gold accents spoke of rich opulence that contradicted Bernadette’s otherwise stark presentation. If the witch wore bangles and necklaces, they were nothing particularly handsome. The house, however, was straight out of a Russian oligarch’s dream. The wealth Bernadette had acquired through her organization was well catalogued in even the dankest corner of her estate.

Rather than take off for Alaska on the morning after the Incarnate exchanged hands, Cyrus told Stephen that he’d be staying in Seattle for another day. When Stephen asked why, Cyrus merely said that it was a private matter. They locked eyes for a full minute while Stephen attempted to crack Cyrus’ ever resilient mask of emotions, but he found nothing. Nothing but purpose.

However clear the determination was in Cyrus, the direction was not. When Cyrus approached Bernadette the next morning, he had nothing to ask and nothing to say. Not anything he could put into words, anyway. For whatever magical or mundane reason, Cyrus just couldn’t pull himself away from the girl he’d dropped into Bernadette’s hands. He couldn’t get on a plane to Alaska, and he couldn’t put one step in front of the other in any direction that didn’t lead him straight back to the fourteen year-old.

“I won’t lie to you, Cyrus Barrow,” Bernadette said with a gleam in her eye. She leaned forward onto her elbows and gave Cyrus another once-over.

“Your employment would be a boon to my business. You’re a well-regarded hunter and a much-feared werewolf.” She paused for a moment, but only to crack a sinister smile. “What I’d like to know is, in all honesty, why you would want to stay on with me. You have an exceptional commitment with the Alaska contingent. You are a soldier and a field agent. The only occupation I could provide you is my protection detail and, depending on the outcome, the protection detail for the child. I don’t suppose that would be suitable to a man of your particular temperament.”

Cyrus’ lips pressed into a tight, impassive line as he considered what Bernadette offered. All of what she had said was true. Cyrus had a great gig in Alaska. If he had to return to pack life, he wouldn’t blink before going back to Stephen. He didn’t particularly want to leave his current situation or employment, but he couldn’t leave the Incarnate. It didn’t seem that he could do both. He was chained to her, and he was committed to staying close to her until he could figure out what was happening to him.

Before Cyrus could option a response, Bernadette sucked in a hard breath. Leaning back in her chair with that satisfied smirk, she drummed her fingers on the tabletop and shot a finger in the air that she wiggled from side-to-side in the international sign language for ‘no.’

“I see,” she said, playfully, voice light with song.

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