Renegade Read Online Free

gasped at biting pain in her shoulder. Her fingers touched linen. Bandages. The air smelled of lemon verbena and lavender, healing scents. Homey ones, with a hint of bay leaf—for protection?—on the pillowcase. Not hospital smells. A droning noise and a stream of cold air hinted at a window air conditioner.
    “Venom in your eyes,” the man said. “Sorry I can’t heal them fully, but at least there’s no organic damage.”
    His deep voice gave her a tingly sensation, like velvet drifting over her skin, and warmed her inexplicably. She pushed herself up to sit. The movement hurt pretty much everywhere, but she felt at a disadvantage lying down.
    He banked pillows behind her. Awareness of him, pleasant and also somehow familiar, prickled over her skin.
    “I’m Kyle Connor,” he added. “You’re at my home near the swamp.”
    “Valeria Banning.” She offered her right hand. He took it in a warm, firm grip but released it too soon for her to probe. Yet the vibes of his magic felt familiar. “Have we met before?”
    “We had a couple of reeve training classes together before I chose a different career. Do you remember the fight?”
    Ghouls. A tall, brave mage, who looked, who fought, like…but Griffin Dare had no reason to help her and every reason to let her die. With the damage to her eyes, she hadn’t seen the man clearly. Maybe Connor only resembled Dare, with the same height, lean, broad-shouldered build, and jet-black hair. “I assume you rescued me. Thank you, so very much.”
    Yet cold fingers of unease pinched her throat. Though her vision had been blurred from the injury, she’d seen that the man fought with a quarterstaff, an antiquated weapon almost no one used. In the Southeast, where people spoke with his accent, only Griffin Dare wielded one. She had best tread carefully.
    “I’m glad your summons reached me,” he said. “How did they catch you?”
    “I saw a bunch of ghouls trying to kidnap a Mundane woman and her little boy in Wayfarer. I figured they meant to breed her.” Remembering brought back the anger, made her voice hard. “The kid was only seven, too young to use as a breeder.”
    “But not too young to be a snack if the ghouls were running short on animals,” he said in harsh tones.
    “Exactly.” She could still see the terror on the child’s round face. Ghouls could digest only fresh kill. They usually kept animals for that but weren’t above munching on mage or Mundane flesh if the opportunity arose. “I got them clear, killed two ghouls, but I was outnumbered.”
    “You took out two, and there were five in the clearing.” He let out a low whistle. “Seven to one, tough odds in any case. Dicier with Mundanes to protect. Good job.”
    “Thanks. The woman and her child know mages exist now, but that was better than letting the ghouls take them.”
    As they’d taken Val’s parents when she was fifteen. Her mom had headed the math department at the Collegium academy, and her dad had been the Collegium’s comptroller. They’d been killed by ghouls while on a camping trip they’d taken as a romantic getaway. Val had sworn she’d fight the ghouls until her dying breath.
    “Uh, where, exactly, are we?”
    “At my home, as I said. I’ll help you get back to the Collegium as soon as you’re well enough to travel.”
    If he knew she lived there, he probably knew she was shire reeve. Gingerly, she moved one leg. Pain flashed in her thigh, and cool linen slid over her bare skin. Something soft but not thin, like chambray, covered her upper body. Val swallowed against a jolt of fear. “What happened to my clothes?”
    “They were ruined. You’re wearing one of my shirts, fresh from the laundry. Don’t worry, I didn’t take advantage.” Her rescuer brushed his hand over hers long enough to let her sense his honesty, yet again, not long enough to let her probe. Was he hiding something, like his identity as the mage world’s most notorious renegade, or was he just