Blood Politics (Blood Destiny 4) Read Online Free Page A

back of all the shops, parallel to the direction I’d just come.  The faint smell of urine and rotting rubbish reached my nostrils, reminding me that on my list of things to do was finding some time to clear out the back of the bookshop so that at least we could avoid having any unpleasant whiffs drift in and bother the customers.  For now, however, I ignored it and continued to sprint, this time unencumbered by pedestrians, until I reached the end when I turned left again out onto the street and up to the same busy road that I’d originally been on, albeit a few hundred metres back from where I’d started.
    Now that I was to the rear of my trackers, I was in a position to find out exactly who it was wasting their time following me around.  I still didn’t really care whether they were there or not, but I was curious who the might and power of the Otherworld had decided to send to babysit me.  The first one was easy to spot, not just because she was frantically searching up the street for me, but because I also knew her.  I hadn’t been naïve enough to presume that Corrigan himself would spend his entire time following me around, the previous night’s encounter notwithstanding, but I still felt the slightest twinge of disappointment that it was Lucy, the honeybadger shifter with the appetite of a horse who I’d first met in Cornwall, and not the Lord Alpha himself.  Telling myself that I felt that way just because I’d wanted to prove that I could give Corrigan the slip without even breaking into a sweat, I dismissed her, and looked for the others.
    Where Lucy had by now managed to start crossing the road, the other two were still standing on the opposite side, about halfway down the block.  It was apparent that the reason they’d not started to come after me was due to the fact that there were starting to come after each other.  They were facing each other, clearly squaring off, while the shoppers nearby gave them a wide berth and more than a few nervous glances.  I chuckled to myself, and leaned backwards slightly to get a better look.  The mage, not anyone I’d previously encountered, had his back to me, but his profession was recognisable thanks to his odd attire.  It seemed to be de rigeur that as soon as mages made it out of the academy, they ended up in attention-grabbing clothing that proclaimed their distinct personalities as loudly as possible.  Having spent barely a couple of months wearing the constricting mage uniform myself, I didn’t blame them.  This particular specimen was wearing shocking pink neon jeans and a green t-shirt, with some kind of floppy hat perched on his head.  Clearly, staying unobtrusive wasn’t high on the mages’ list of intentions and I wondered what it said about me that they didn’t care that I’d know I was being followed.  It seemed likely that it was more about making sure that the shifters and the faeries knew he was there than anything else.
    I watched as he reached over to the Fae opposite him and gave him a tiny shove.  Apparently Beltran still hadn’t been relieved of his duty yet.  He leaned in towards the mage and flicked him on the nose.  I snickered.  Despite my amusement, however, the tension in both their bodies was clear; their mutual hatred was visible even from across the crowded street.  
    “Quite a show they’re putting on,” commented a voice next to me, making me jump.
    I cursed myself for being so wrapped up in the proceedings that were unfolding between Beltran and the mage that I’d not been paying attention to what was nearby, and glanced over at the owner of the voice, before immediately relaxing.  It was a slight, bespectacled chap who I’d never seen before, but who clearly was about as dangerous as a tub of margarine.
    “Mmm,” I murmured agreement.
    “Do you think I should call the police?” he asked, with a slightly anxious tone.
    That probably wasn’t a good idea.  “Oh, I’m sure they’ll sort it out