Book One: The Girl (The Sanctum) Read Online Free Page A

own. Around and around they went like this, both well-trained and strong fighters, neither scared to die. Finally, Dev made a mistake and came around on Max's left while he feigned to the right, pulling her off-balance and striking Dev's side with his raven blade. A look of smug satisfaction came over his face as he watched her back away from him to a far corner of the room, holding her side all the while.
    Believing this was his chance, while the venom of the raven blade burned Dev’s insides, Max strode across the room, pulling a sword from its sheath on his back, ready to kill Dev with a final blow. Feigning injury, Dev cowered as his steps grew closer and then attacked with blinding speed and agility. She sprang at Max, stabbing him in the side with her hidden, short blade then sent him flying across the room with a single, powerful kick. He landed against the wall and crumpled to the floor with a sickening thud.
    Dev gave him no time to recover. She crossed the room, grabbed Max and repeatedly slammed him back into the ground, wanting to hear every bone in his body break. The veins in her slim arms popped out as she held Max against the wall, her hands around his neck, choking off his air supply.
    Just as Max seemed ready to faint, Dev released him, watching him fall to a heap at her feet. She kicked his sides until her legs grew weary, then propped him up against the wall, willing him to open his eyes. Daring him to open his eyes. She squatted in front of him, wanting her face to be the first thing Max saw when he regained consciousness, hoping he felt every ounce of hatred flowing through her veins.
    “Enough,” Max whispered through bloody lips.
    Dev bent down and leaned in close to Max, hissing in his ear, “Trust me when I say this: it will never be enough.”
    “How do you,” Max gasped and coughed, “know my name?”
    Dev stood up, all five feet ten inches of her towering over the beaten boy. He looked up, his expression one of haughty arrogance, awaiting an answer to his question. In his current state and circumstances, Max’s behavior was unbelievable. It was the very attitude that enabled members of The Sanctum to run around the world, passing judgment on others and killing them with little more than a thought.
    “How did you find us?” she asked, ignoring his question.
    “We’ve spent years hunting your parents, those blasted wizards my family held so dearly, so convinced were they that their precious Maya and Philip would never turn on The Sanctum. Ha!” Max laughed and spat blood, “bloody fools.
    “Once Ava and Carter stopped mucking about, it was simply a matter of putting the best wizards on your trail and waiting, for we knew at some point you people would either mess up or get lazy. No one is that good, I don’t care how powerful you are; eventually we all get tired or comfortable. Apparently, they did just that and now, here we are, love. You and me.
    “So I answered your question, now you answer mine, tit for tat,” Max insisted obnoxiously.
    Dev looked down at him for a moment, the smug set of his mouth rubbing her the wrong way, annoying her. Before she knew it, her boot was in his face, Max’s nose was broken and he was screaming in pain. Somewhat satisfied, she felt ready to talk.
    “I’ve known your name since I was a little girl.”
    At this, Max laughed incredulously.
    “You are anything but a girl. You are an abomination. Angel and Demon, the spawn of two creatures never meant to come into contact with one another. You are disgusting,” Max spat.
    Dev studied Max for a long minute, wondering what made someone like him tick. He was young and already so full of hatred for her. And why? She had done nothing to anyone. Her only crime was existing at all.
    “And you are nothing but a tool of your father.”
    Catching the expression on Max’s face, she laughed as she took a seat on a chair close by.
    “What? Did you honestly think my parents haven’t told me what I am? How