Monster (A Cassidy Edwards Novel - Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

hot.
    But then his expression shuttered, and he moved back, folded his arms, and said, “You’re not spelled. Explain.”
    Spelled? Not a term I’d heard before. Enchanted? As in magic?
    His lashes narrowed as if reading my confusion. He was a wily one. I’d have to be careful if I didn’t want to end up getting short-changed in this negotiation. I adopted a hard, knowing expression, and just shrugged like his question was beneath me.
    I’d learned long ago that bluffing was more than half the battle.
    Lucian stalked over to the conference table and sat on the edge to casually swing a foot. “Leave us,” he ordered Heath and Tabitha with an imperial wave of his hand.
    Heath didn’t seem to mind, but Tabitha certainly did. She flashed her eyes at me with obvious suspicion, and if looks could roast, I’d have been turned into a charred pile of ashes right there. It took her several long moments, but finally, she disappeared through the door.
    “Don’t mind her,” Lucian’s deep voice advised from directly behind me.
    Only the years of practice living with my mother kept me from jerking in surprise at his sudden breath upon the back of my neck. Apparently, warlocks moved as quickly as vampires. I wondered what else they could do.
    Pretending I wasn’t surprised, I coolly spun on my heel.
    He didn’t move back. He stayed in my space. And though half of me found him fascinatingly attractive, the other half became annoyed.
    The annoyed-half won out.
    I glared at him in a way that never failed to send a man scattering out of my way.
    But he didn’t move. Instead, the corner of his lip curved into a smile, and folding his arms as if digging in for the long haul, he continued to speak of Tabitha. “Drakes are possessive of those they accept. They aren’t like humans. I’d avoid being alone with her, at least for a while, or maybe even forever if she decides she doesn’t like you.”
    I’d never heard of a drake. Part of me wanted to know more, but as a matter of habit, I avoided asking questions if I could help it—it tended to embolden others to ask questions of their own. And anyway, only part of me was curious. The rest of me was irritated with the handsome warlock hovering over me.
    I arched my brow higher, adding more frost to my gaze. I wasn’t going to be the first one to step back. Nope. I was going to win even if I had to stand there all night with him just centimeters away. My annoyed-half deliberately ignored the part of me dancing with glee at the thought.
    Lucian met my gaze steadily, and from this close, I could get a really good look at his unusual eyes. Light blue irises threaded with glistening silver streaks that radiated outwards from the pupil. I’d never seen glimmering silver in an eye before. Perhaps it was a warlock thing.
    After a moment, I began to notice the scorching tension rising between us. And even though I couldn’t smell it, I could sense a charge swirling around me, something that wasn’t me. It was some kind of invisible, crackling energy. It heightened my senses. I wondered if it would zap him if I reached out and ran my finger along his jawline.
    At that point, I became aware that he was still talking.
    “A Firedrake,” his deep voice droned in the background. “Descendants of the dragons, and more dragon than human. Treat her like a temperamental cobra having a bad day and you’ll do fine.”
    His incredibly long lashes swept down over his eyes for a fraction of a second and I realized I hadn’t been breathing. I sucked in a huge breath. Cold air filled my lungs, blowing the fog out of my brain.
    It was enough to allow instinct to inform me just what he’d been doing.
    In an instant, a knife was in my hand, but he caught my wrist in a vise-like grip before I could press the blade into the flesh of his neck.
    “Impressive,” he stated, looking as cool as a cucumber.
    “I can’t say the same,” I said with flashing eyes.
    I held still, not wanting to test his