Avador Book 2, Night Shadows Read Online Free Page A

of roses.
    Before sunlight touched the land, before they headed for Moreen's residence in a vault deep underground, he knew his life had changed forever. Despite a lingering sorrow over Maeve, he gloried in his new immortality. His grief eventually disappeared, replaced by a resolve to live his new life to the fullest. Not once had he looked back
     
     
    Chapter Three
     
    "She's not there, sir." 
    After admitting the servant into his study, Kelvin Connor exchanged a look with Angus Kendall, the latter having come to discuss business. Connor drummed his fingers on his oaken desk, fighting to control his temper. "Not at her brother's? Did you ask him if he knew where she went?"
    "Yes, sir. He has no idea." The servant paused. "I checked other places in Sligo, sir, inns and such. No one there knows her or anything of her."
    Connor nodded in dismissal. "Very well. That's all for now. I may call on you later."
    The servant left, and Connor exchanged another look with Angus Kendall. A wide multi-paned window admitted refracted light into the large room, where book-filled shelves lined each wall, books Connor freely acknowledged he'd bought to impress visitors. A sheepskin rug stretched the length of the floor, dyed purple to match the draperies at the window.
    In another chair close by the desk, Kendall sipped his wine and set the glass down. "In all frankness, you should have foreseen that Fianna could easily escape by descending the ivy along the wall." Tall and thin, he had the look of a bookish scholar, instead of a ruthless mine owner.
    "How?" Connor asked, trying to stifle his irritation with the other man. "I never realized it would hold a grown person's weight. But that's beside the point now." He raked his fingers through his hair. "My stepdaughter is gone and we don't know where."
    Kendall took another sip of wine, his bland expression preventing discernment of his thoughts. "To the capital." He brushed a drop of wine from his linen tunic and gave Kelvin Connor a look of certainty.
    "Moytura?" Connor shook his head. "Miles from here. Almost a nineday away. I can't believe she would go that far."
    Angus lifted his hands. "Then where?  Easy to get lost in a city that size. Sounds logical to me."
    Connor pounded his fist on the desk. "All along, I've underestimated her. Should have realized she's not like her mother." He snorted. "Evelina, my submissive wife." He sighed and shook his head. "I'll have to send more servants out, do anything to get her back. And when I do . . ." Although the threat remained unspoken, his meaning was clear.
    "Not when you find her, but when I do."
    Connor jerked his head up. "What?"
    "Listen." Kendall spoke, a crafty look on his face. "I know several men who are quite skilled in finding missing persons, or shall we say, people who have fled for one reason or another. I'll put them on her trail, and I'll wager you one of them will find her within a nineday. I'll send each one in a different direction–north, south, east, and west. One of them is bound to find her."
    He drained his wine glass. "And then what?"
    "Whichever one finds her will report to me and I'll bring her back." An egotistical expression captured Kendall's face. "Throughout the years, I've established a system of communicating by use of carrier pigeons. Very effective, I must say. As soon as I hear from one of my men, I'll be on my way to bring her back."
    "Why not have your man bring her back?" Goddess, was this man born with that smug look on his face?
    Kendall smiled slyly. "Because I want the pleasure of capturing her myself."
    Kelvin Connor remained quiet for a few moments, sifting ideas through his mind. He hated to accept defeat, hated even more for someone to succeed where he had failed. "Very well. That's as good a plan as any."
    "Good," Kendall said, nodding. "I'll set the men on the job as soon as I return home."
    Connor remained silent for a moment, frustrated in more ways than one by his stepdaughter's