Found (Book One of the Castle Coven Series): A Witch and Warlock Romance Novel Read Online Free

he had been looking for.
    At the same time, watching her stand up to a man who was easily twice her size, a blush on her cheeks and an utter sense of fearlessness radiating from her small body, made something stir inside him that had not moved in a long time. It wasn’t until later, when he realized that nine hundred euros could help the old bookseller a great deal, that he realized that she was compassionate as well.
    Right now, she was so lovely that it took everything he had not to grin. Instead, he kept a straight face and nodded at her.
    “What I need is to test you,” he said bluntly. “The Magus Corps is aware of your talents, and we think that they may be of use–”
    “I don’t care.”
    Kieran blinked as Hailey stared up at him, arms crossed over her chest and an expression that could only be described as stony.
    “I don’t care,” she repeated, when it looked like he wasn’t getting the idea. “Do you understand? I don’t care what you think of my talents. I’m doing work, good work here, and it is not up to you to pull me away from it.”
    “Good work. You mean translating old manuscripts and going over the work of Wiccans long dead?”
    She bristled.
    “Yes,” she said. “I’m not interested in any kind of work you have for me.”
    “The Magus Corps–”
    “Can look for its own torturers.”
    The words stunned him to silence, and apparently it made Hailey think that they were done. She nodded stiffly to him, and he was so surprised he almost let her get out the door.
    “Hailey, wait.”
    Without thinking about it, he grasped her wrist as she walked past. He was startled to see how small it was. She stilled completely when she felt the touch of his bare skin on hers.
    “You touched me,” she said, her eyes wide with surprise.
    “You were leaving,” he pointed out. “Our talk isn’t done.”
    “You touched me.”
    “I did.” Kieran paused, worried. “Are you all right? I didn’t intend to hurt you.”
    He let go of her hand, but she seemed to be so stunned that she forgot all about leaving. Instead, her bright eyes flicked between her wrist and his hand. Finally, she looked up at him.
    “Did they not tell you anything about me?”
    Her tone was torn between shock and pity, and perhaps there was even some rage there. Kieran realized with a sense of shock that the rage was on his behalf.
    “What do you mean?”
    She paused, and for a moment, it was impossible to tell what she was thinking or what she felt. Then she took a deep breath as if bracing herself for a jump into cold water.
    “They didn’t tell you what I am and what I can do.”
    “I assure you they did, Hailey.”
    Her glance was cutting.
    “I don’t think they could have. Let me explain it to you, Major. I’m a vampire. If I put my hands on a witch or a warlock, I can drain them. I don’t have any magic of my own. I can’t do anything if you put me in a room by myself. But if I touch a witch or a warlock, if I have my skin on their skin, I can steal some of their power, and then I can do anything with it.”
    “Anything?”
    “As far as we can tell. It doesn’t seem limited to what the person I stole from can do. Suddenly, I have power, and I can use it in nearly any way that I can think of. It’s that simple.” She shook her head. “Whoever sent you here without telling you what I can do, well. I don’t think much of them.”
    “You’re wrong,” Kieran said quietly. “I knew exactly what you could do, and I need to learn more.”
    She stilled, and now there was doubt in her eyes.
    “I’m safe,” she said, and there was a new sense of urgency in her tone. “I am… Please. You have to believe me. Ask anyone. I’ve never lost control, not in the time that I’ve been living with a coven. I didn’t understand my powers when I was first awakened, but I do now. I swear it. I would swear it on anything that you cared to name…”
    Kieran flinched at the rising panic in her voice.
    “I am not here to