The Warlock's Daughter Read Online Free Page B

The Warlock's Daughter
Book: The Warlock's Daughter Read Online Free
Author: Jennifer Blake
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his hat without effort, he swung immediately in the direction Carita had taken. His footsteps were silent, but they were sure.
    Overhead, the moon sailed at treetop level, following them. There were no streetlamps here; the only illumination was faint glimmers from houses closed up behind shutters, fences and gates. The leaves of the oaks overhanging the uneven wooden sidewalk spoke in sibilant undertones while crickets and peeper frogs sang from damp garden corners and amid tangles of waning fall flowers. Somewhere a dog barked and was shouted into abeyance.
    Ahead of Renfrey , Carita moved with the agitated rustling of skirts that came from haste. Sometimes she glanced back, or else broke into a run for a few steps as if she knew she was being pursued. She was paying little attention to where she put her feet, none to what lay ahead of her.
    Until she stopped with a sudden, bell-like sway of skirts. Renfrey saw the two men at the same time, and broke into a run.
    Carita was not frightened so much as startled. She was usually more aware of her surroundings; it was a sign of the dazed condition of her mind that she had not noticed the thugs bearing down on her.
    They were out of place, those two, bullies who had wandered away from the wharves along the river, or else from around Gallatin Street or the Irish Channel. She could smell the liquor on their breaths, see the glaze of drunkenness and lust in their eyes. There was also the avid gloating of the hunter in their faces; they thought she was defenseless, at their mercy.
    “Well, now, look what we got here,” the bigger of the two growled as he swaggered closer. “Nice a bit of tail as I ever seen. Think you can hold her, Jack, whiles I tears me off a piece?”
    “ Hol ' her,” Jack said with an owlish leer, “ 'en have her, too.”
    Carita had been walking alongside a wrought iron fence with palings formed like ornamental arrows. She glanced at them with speculation. The barking dog heard minutes ago also sprang to mind; if summoned, it might be a deterrent.
    Then she heard the soft thud of running feet. There was a flash of movement and Renfrey appeared at her side. Hard fingers fastened on her arm, dragging her behind him.
    “No!” she said sharply. She fought his grasp for an instant, but it was strong and would take too long to break. Subsiding, she stood in strained readiness.
    “Here now,” the leader of the two thugs said with a crude oath. “ We'uns seen her first!”
    “She's mine,” Renfrey said with quiet precision. “Move on while you can.”
    Carita gave Renfrey a swift glance. At the same time, she saw the leader of the thugs grope at his waist. Light flashed silver along a blade.
    The burly man gave a coarse laugh. “ Your'n is she? We'll just be seeing about that.”
    “Yeah,” the other man echoed. Half drunk, it took a moment before he fumbled another long knife into view.
    They were crude but vicious weapons, honed to a razor's edge and measuring more than fifteen inches from welded hilt to tapered tip. The two men held them with ease shaded by eagerness, as if they had used them before against flesh and bone and enjoyed the feel of it.
    “What you think of this, my fine buck?” the first man growled, lifting his lips in a hard grin marked by missing teeth. He swept his weapon from side to side, feinting with quick, hard jabs.
    “Not a great deal, actually.” Renfrey's reply was without heat. Hard on it came the slicing hiss of a drawn sword. It was followed by the hollow clatter as he discarded the useless portion of what had been his sword cane.
    Moonlight tested the limber blade in his hand for sharpness with a silver glimmer, winking at the tip. Eying it, the leader let out an oath. “You got yourself a fine frog-sticker there, friend, but we still be two to one.”
    “My favorite odds.” Renfrey released Carita , gave her a small thrust farther behind him. The swordsman position he assumed was easy, classic.
    “We'll see
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